The board of Airwing has decided to announce a tender. The airline stopped operations and was in contact with the Norwegian Civil Aviation Authority.
The decision is due to “highly unpredictable and difficult framework conditions”, the company reports on Thursday.
Airwing has 48 employees, more than half of whom are laid off.
In addition to passenger transport, the company specializes in socially critical flying, such as ambulance flying and the transport of time-critical cancer medicine.
Anna Helene Kjos-Mathisen, CEO of Airwing, says they were well on their way to restructuring, so that Airwing could become a modern and environmentally friendly Norwegian airline.
– Unfortunately, our attempts to raise new risk capital to continue the venture are not successful. Increased costs and major challenges with maintenance made further operation impossible. In such a situation, the only responsible thing to do is to announce a tender. Now the first priority is to take care of the employees in a very difficult situation, says Kjos-Mathisen.
Like the rest of the airline industry, Airwing is affected by high fuel costs, increased interest on loans, increased leasing costs and a general increase in costs, according to the company.
Went at a loss
Airwing has had a fleet consisting of 7 aircraft.
The latest published accounting figures show that Airwing has made a loss. The company lost NOK 18.4 million, out of a turnover that amounted to NOK 79.8 million in 2021.
The company writes that revenues have decreased because parts deliveries were first delayed by the Covid pandemic and then by Russia’s attack on Ukraine. This means that the planes have spent a disproportionate amount of time on the ground, which has had a negative impact on revenue.
– We have confidence that the board has taken the right decision given the difficult situation the company is in. The management and the employees have made a huge effort, but have encountered factors beyond the company’s control that have contributed to making further operations impossible, says the investor Morten Klein.
Klein Invest entered Airwing as a lender in 2017 and as an owner in 2019, and today owns 56 percent of Airwing’s parent company.
Klein had a fortune of NOK 2.4 billion in 2022, according to Kapital. He owns the Klein Group, with investments in, among other things, the online gambling company Cherry and the crypto company Arcane Crypto.
The board of Airwing AS will work with the trustees to secure the values that remain in the company, according to the report.
Was in contact with the Norwegian Civil Aviation Authority
Managing director and co-owner of the company, Anna Helene Kjos-Mathisen, is a former pilot and crew manager at Norwegian. She is also the daughter of Norwegian founder Bjørn Kjos.
Last week, E24 was in contact with Airwing and the Norwegian Aviation Authority. Airwing did not respond to inquiries.
The Norwegian Civil Aviation Authority then said that Airwing itself chose to stop operations since they were missing a person in a key role.
– This shows that they take flight safety seriously and we are satisfied that the company did this, and we have then independently suspended the operation as long as they have not filled the responsible roles, said Håvard Vikheim, director, communications and public relations at the Norwegian Civil Aviation Authority.
Then Vikheim said that the Norwegian Civil Aviation Authority expected that the company would be back in operation very soon, but now the company has announced a tender and the trustees are taking over the responsibility.
It is currently unknown which lawyer will be appointed as administrator.
