An investor in the Nordic Aviation Group (Nordica) airline company, Lars Thuesen, announced on Monday that he is no longer planning to privatise the company, and so after an assessment of the economic situation, the management board of the Estonian state-owned airline decided to shut down operations and file for bankruptcy.
Bankruptcy petitions will be filed for the Nordic Aviation Group and its subsidiary Xfly as soon as possible, company CEO Remco Althuis said in a news release on Wednesday.
Estonia as the sole owner of the Nordic Aviation Group and Xfly began the privatisation process in late 2023. Serious negotiations took place last week with both sides seeing a mutually acceptable agreement.
“The Nordic Aviation Group and Xfly have gone through though times during the last 15 months,” the CEO explained. “The new management team took up its duties in August 2023, and the process has required a great deal of effort on the part of the whole team to bring the airline along a new and sustainable path.”
Althuis insisted that the Nordic Aviation Group is very proud of its results during this period, which ensured a solid economic position for the company by the spring of 2024.
“We have provided our clients with services according to the highest level of standards, and that has been seen in our accuracy rate and in the quality of our services,” Althuis added. “Our partners have also praised our team for its excellent work.”
Kadri Land, chair of the Nordic Aviation Group’s supervisory board, said that sadly, the potential investor announced on Monday that he will not proceed with privatisation because of the excessive level of risk that relates to the process.
“Our aim is to return the aircraft used by the Nordic Aviation Group and Xfly to the lessors as soon as possible, probably in the coming weeks,” CEO Althuis said. “This will involve all of the formalities that relate to bankruptcy proceedings, among them submitting notification to the Estonian Unemployment Insurance Fund.”
Source: BNS
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