SkyEurope Goes Bankrupt
Discount European Airline Ceases Operations
The budget airline, based out Slovakia, ended all service without warning last week, leaving many passengers stranded.
Suddenly Out of Business
SkyEurope began service in 2002 and at its peak, flew to 38 cities in 19 European countries. In 2008, it was voted Eastern Europe’s best low cost airline in the World Airline Awards run by Skytrax Research of London. It also ranked third for best low cost airline in Europe during the same survey of over 4.5 million air passengers.
But due to the slumping worldwide economy, and slowdown of travel in general, it still had trouble filling its seats over the summer months this year.
It originally sought bankruptcy protection in June 2009, but kept flying after it said it had found new funding. It flew from hubs such as Bratislava, Slovakia and Prague in the Czech Republic to Western European destinations ranging from Milan to Barcelona to Manchester, England.
However, as of the morning of September 1, 2009, it declared it was ceasing operations immediately. It had already ceased all flights out of Vienna, Austria, as of mid-August, after it missed a deadline to pay its outstanding debts to the airport there. Now, the company was shutdown completely.
Thousands of passengers were left stranded throughout Europe and had to find alternate forms of travel to return home.
In a press release issued by the airline, following the original declaration on the website, a spokesperson said, “SkyEurope expresses its utmost regret and apologies to the travelers for any inconvenience and assures that until the very end all efforts have been made to carry out all flights. An orderly procedure will be set up to minimize discomfort to the traveling public.”
What to Do if Left Stranded by Sky Europe
If the SkyEurope air ticket was purchased via a credit card, the customer should try to seek a refund via their card issuer. Due to the carrier’s bankruptcy status, it is likely that going directly to airline for a refund would be futile. Those that used a travel agent should contact them to discuss other options. If the purchase included trip insurance, assistance can be found there, as well.
Other Eastern European Flight Options
Travelers looking for other low cost flight options to and from Eastern Europe still have quite a few airlines to choose from, even with the absence of SkyEurope.
From Western European locations, try Ryanair or EasyJet. There is also German-based Air Berlin, Hungarian-based Wizz Air and Romanian-based Blue Air, all of which service many locations that SkyEurope flew to throughout Europe.
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