Air Calédonie filed for bankruptcy while protestors blocked key airfields and caused flights to be cancelled, meaning the firm was losing an estimated £73,000 every day
A “vital” airline has filed for bankruptcy with flights grounded – but it could now be saved.
Air Calédonie is the domestic airline for New Caledonia, a French territory in the South Pacific, and it filed for bankruptcy last month following a protest movement by customers in the territory’s outer islands.
The protestors blocked key airfields, angry at the company’s decision to move Air Calédonie’s operations from the Nouméa Magenta airport to New Caledonia’s international La Tontouta base – more than 50km from Nouméa city.
The blockade movement has aggravated Air Calédonie’s financial situation with an estimated loss of roughly £73,000 per day, making the company virtually unable to pay its staff in the short term.
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The crisis led to half its staff being placed on temporary employment and on part-time pay. New Caledonia President, Alcide Ponga, said of the action: “It looks as if someone wants the death of AirCal.”
Air Calédonie said it remained “mobilised to save a vital company for New Caledonia and design a viable recovery plan”. The airline was founded back in 1954.
This week a Commerce Tribunal in New Caledonia started a judicially-supervised recovery process for the airline, according to RNZ.
This is despite the fact that talks held over the weekend with the leaders of the blockade collective and French State representatives failed to produce any progress.
Nouméa Commerce Tribunal, now effectively in charge of the airline’s affairs, said on Tuesday that the procedure could lead to a salvage plan for Air Calédonie.
Public Prosecutor Yves Dupas said this was probably the company’s “last chance” to survive. The process could see Air Calédonie allowed to continue operations while debts from before April 14 would be “frozen”.
The aim is to “preserve” the company’s cash flow as part of its “continuation of activity” for a six month period, which could then be renewed, hopefully meaning that eventually it will “have the means to recover to a sustainable activity level”.
