An airline has cancelled all flights and entered liquidation, with staff reportedly concerned about their wages after being told they may not receive the full amount they are owed
An airline has axed all flights with immediate effect after tumbling into liquidation. It has been confirmed the carrier will hand back its fleet of aircraft and surrender its UK Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC).
Ascend Airways, which was established in 2004 but traded under its present name for merely three years, ran services from Gatwick Airport and Stansted Airport. As a “wet-lease” operator, the airline provided aircraft to carriers including Oman Air, Air Sierra Leone and TUI Airways. Nevertheless, it recently collapsed into liquidation, halting all operations and scrapping flights.
As reported by Metro, Ascend Airways has relinquished its UK Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC), a document that every airline requires to run commercial flights in the UK.
According to company sources, an email was dispatched to employees which blamed economic pressures, including the impact of the conflict in Iran on the jet fuel crisis, for the closure.
Staff were subsequently informed that the airline would halt operations after their final flight with Oman Air had touched down from Muscat at Stansted Airport on Thursday (April 30).
However, it has been confirmed the airline’s Malaysian division will remain unaffected.
The airline said in a LinkedIn post: “Ascend Airways Malaysia remains operationally stable, continues to meet all its contractual obligations and is progressing on-track with communicated expansion plans.”
A source previously said: “It’s gone bust today, we got the news this afternoon. We’ve all been given the letters that it’s all going into liquidation.”, reports the Express.
They added: “It’s to do with the economy, we couldn’t get contracts, the UK is a lot more expensive than Europe. The fuel situation had a massive effect on it as well.”
The circumstances have left employees worried about their salaries, with one stating: “We’re not going to get paid for May and we have to go through the liquidators.
“You could get up to £750 a week but we’re not going to get the full amount we’re owed.”
Ascend Airways initially launched in 2004 under Synergy Aviation before rebranding in 2023.
When it collapsed, the company was running a fleet of one Boeing 737-800 and six Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft.