Proposed Japanese domestic start-up Lequios Airlines has shed nearly its entire workforce and delayed its launch until next year.
"We laid off some people because we are now a little short of capital," says the airline, adding it is "now looking for new capital".
Lequios axed 80 staff in late March, leaving it with a workforce of around five.
A deal with GE Capital Aviation Services to lease a Boeing 767-300ER last month has fallen through and the airline is looking elsewhere.
Lequios was set up in 1998 and plans to offer a twice-daily service from its hub at Naha, on Okinawa Island in southern Japan, to Tokyo's Haneda Airport. It was to have launched in 2001, but then delayed the start date to March 2002 and then later to June 2003.
Source: Flight International
