Gone
Friday, December 5th, 2008In 2008, more than 70 airlines suspended all flights compared to a mere 30 airlines in 2007. A number of airlines has been photographed while they were still active:
The airline was established in April 1989 and started operations in 1990. It operated branded wet lease, ad-hoc and contract passenger and freight charter services, as well as VIP flights and aircraft sales and maintenance. Sub-services were flown for major airlines in Europe as required. One aircraft was operated on behalf of Swiss International Airlines in 2006 and 2007. The company was placed into administration on 3 December 2008.
European Aviation Air Charter was an airline based in Bournemouth, United Kingdom. It operates ad hoc charter services, VIP flights, and inclusive-tour and sub-charter flights, as well as ACMI wet leases for other airlines.The airline was one of the last operators of Boeing 737-200 on passenger flights in Europe. By mid-2008, it operated no less than 6 aircraft of this type. The company was placed into administration on 2 December 2008 with Jet2 taking over the flights.
Initially owned by the Leon Airport Consortium LagunAir began to operate on 29 September 2003 with a flight from Leon to Barcelona's El Prat airport. In February 2005 it was bought by the local Leonese investor group AGELCO. The company and the investors have received extensive local government support.
The new ownership set up a long-term strategy aimed at becoming the leading regional airline in Castilla and Leon. Electronic ticketing was introduced in May 2005 and the company reached several agreements with major Spanish tour operators. The strategic expansion plan includes increasing the company's capital to 14 million euros in order to renew the current SAAB turboprop fleet with longer-range Embraer jet aircraft and setting up focus city operations at the other major Castilla and Leon airports, beginning with Valladolid Airport and Salamanca Airport.
On 9 October 2008, the company announced on its website it ceased flight operations and tickets sales until further notice. All pending bookings are transfered to Air Nostrum
Aerolineas de Baleares (AeBal) was established in 1999 and started operations on 5 July 2000 from Madrid with domestic services and an initial fleet of three Boeing 717 aircraft.
It was originally named Aerolineas Baleares Blue Star, but has operated under the AeBal name, whilst retaining much of its Spanair pedigree in the livery. It was owned by Spanair (51%) and SAS Group (49%). Aerolineas de Baleares ceased all flight operations on 16 September 2008 with the five 717s wearing AeBAL own colors returned to the lessor.
XL Airways was a British low-cost charter and scheduled airline, which ceased operations when it went into administration on 12 September 2008.The airline provided short-haul and long-haul charter services predominantly to leisure destinations from its three bases at London Gatwick, Manchester and Glasgow. The airline also operated services from Newcastle, Bristol, East Midlands, Birmingham, Knock.
Two other airlines within the group use the XL Airways branding; XL Airways France and XL Airways Germany are not affected by the insolvency of the XL Leisure Group.
Futura International Airways was established in 1989 and starting operations on 17 February 1990 with a flight from Palma de Mallorca to Manchester. During the 1990s, the airline expanded to cover most of Europe and it used to operate its own scheduled flights and ad-hoc flights on behalf of various tour operators and airlines. Futura operated from 5 permanent bases: Palma de Mallorca, Tenerife, Malaga, Gran Canaria and Dublin. After failing to re-finance itself the company ceased trading on the 8 September 2008.
