French business class airline Fairlines has run into fresh financial problems after being forced to stop payments on its leased aircraft. The carrier has terminated its scheduled routes from Paris.
The airline, which started operations at the beginning of the year, has been trying to replace its scheduled services with charter operations as the hoped-for market in high-class business travel failed to materialise on the routes to Nice and Milan.
Fairlines owner and president, Francois Arpels, of the Van Cleef & Arpels jewellery empire, says the carrier is now looking at renegotiating its payments to allow it to rebuild cash reserves. It hopes to restart the service to Milan by late November.
In September, French aviation authorities ruled that operations could continue for three months, and will re-examine the airline's finances at the end of October. In exchange, Arpels promised to open its capital to new shareholders and to sign a co-operation deal with a major airline, neither of which has so far occurred.
When the airline was launched this year, Arpels initially foresaw a pair of Boeing MD-81s serving the two routes with an expansion of routes planned to take the number of aircraft up to eight.
Source: Flight International
