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SkyEurope, a Slovakian low-cost airline, declared bankruptcy and suspended flights on Tuesday, after being unable to cope with the difficult conditions resulting from the global economic crisis.

SkyEurope began flights in 2002 with a single 30-seat Embraer jet, and quickly grew into one of the region’s larger carriers. It took advantage of the central Europe’s accession to the European Union in 2004, which spurred the low cost travel industry as millions of Poles, Slovaks and Hungarians migrated to western Europe in search of employment.

source: FT.com

SkyEurope Airline AS, a Central European discount airline, said Monday it was granted protection from creditors by a court in the Slovak capital.

The company said in a statement it had asked for the ruling from Bratislava I District Court so it could carry out a reorganization plan to make the company more attractive for potential investors.

Slovak law allows companies up to nine and half months to complete reorganization under protection.

source: Forbes

Struggling Slovak low-cost airline SkyEurope said Wednesday its fleet had shrunk to five planes over the past few months from an original fifteen Boeing 737s it had last autumn.

SkyEurope with bases in Prague, Bratislava, Kosice and Vienna has never posted a profit in the six years of its existence.

The company listed in Vienna posted a loss of 59.4 million euros in the last financial year ending September 30, compared to 24.07 million last year, while its revenue grew 10.5 percent to 260.9 million euros from 236.2 million euros last year.

source: AFP

Individually, airlines are finding it hard to stay viable, let alone turn a profit. For smaller airlines trying to bill themselves as budget, cooperation may be the solution in creating a wider distribution of resources and lowering operating costs. Flyholding, the holding company of MyAir.com, and SkyEurope Holding announced Oct. 15 a cooperation agreement that would boost their standings in Europe’s budget airline industry.

MyAir.com has entered a protocol agreement with Bratislava-based SkyEurope Airlines for an operating partnership that is an example of a new trend in strategic alliances. MyAir.com said it hopes the partnership will streamline operations and cut costs by taking advantage of the economies of scale on the market in which both airlines currently operate. With largely complementary networks, the partnership will also bring additional destinations to customers in their major hubs.

source: The Prague Post

Low-cost airline Sky Europe is to launch new direct flights from Bulgaria to 11 European capitals and major cities in October 2007, the airline’s commercial director, Karim Maklouf, said on Monday.

The company will operate daily flights to Amsterdam, Brussels, Paris, Innsbruck and Warsaw.

source: Spero News

SkyEurope Airlines, created a new world record in distance flown by a Boeing 737-700NG in commercial configuration. SkyEurope’s 10th brand new Boeing 737-700 Next Generation aircraft landed at Bratislava airport on Saturday 17 March 2007 at 4:36 p.m. after the record flyover of 9,101 kilometres without any fuel stop.

The longest documented distance flown by the Boeing 737 type until today was 8,382 kilometres on the route Seattle to Prague on 27 January 2007, also performed as a SkyEurope delivery flight. Christian Mandl, CEO of SkyEurope Airlines, came to the airport to welcome the record breaking crew personally:

source: Boarding.no

Central Europe-based low-cost carrier, SkyEurope Airlines, intends to double its fleet to 32 aircraft within four years, Czech business weekly, Profit, said.

“‘SkyEurope will double its fleet from 16 to 32 aircraft within four years’,” commercial director, Karim Makhlouf, told the weekly.

“‘Generally, we will continue with our “Go East” strategy,'” Makhlouf added, referring to the carrier’s plans to develop routes in Central and Eastern Europe, where rising living standards and faster economic growth are expected to increase demand for air travel much faster than in Western Europe.

source: TradeArabia