Cypriot low-cost airline Cobalt Air said on Wednesday, without prior warning, it has indefinitely suspended operations after only two years in operation.
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In a brief announcement issued on its website the airline said it was cancelling all flights as of 23.50pm on October 17 “due to indefinite suspension of Cobalt’s operations”.
“As a result, future flights or services provided by Cobalt will be cancelled and will no longer operate,” it added without elaborating on the reason why.
The airline advised passengers who have tickets not to go to Larnaca Airport, where it is based, or international airport on October 18 “as no Cobalt flights will operate and no Cobalt staff will be present”.
“For refunds, please contact your credit card provider or Travel Agent,” said the Cobalt statement.
“We sincerely apologise once again and would like to thank our very loyal customers for their support over the last two years of Cobalt operations,” the statement concluded.
The largest Cypriot airline ceased operations after reports said that the company failed to reach a deal with a potential European investor.
It is not yet clear how many passengers have been affected by the sudden shutdown.
But Cyprus’ transport ministry said in a statement that passengers expecting to fly with Cobalt on Thursday should secure one-way tickets in economy class from another airline and keep their receipt to be reimbursed.
Nine flights had been scheduled to arrive and nine to depart from Larnaca airport on Thursday.
Transport Minister Vasiliki Anastasiadou said that any stranded passengers in Cyprus would be helped.
Reportedly, the company has only 15 million euros in its accounts, which it needed to pay its 200 staff.
There was speculation that the budget airline was facing cash-flow problems after two of its aircraft were grounded for two days.
Although Cobalt refused to comment on the rumours, sources within the company reportedly attributed the liquidity problems to a difficulty by Chinese investors to export capital due to China government restrictions.
The airline’s main stockholders are AJ Cyprus, holding 49 per cent of the shares. AJ Cyprus is owned by Chinese AVIC Joy Air.
Cobalt stepped in to replace bankrupt state-owned Cyprus Airways, which shut down in January 2015.
Cobalt started flight operations in 2016 and acquired six aircraft – two Airbus 319s and four Airbus 320s – flying to 23 destinations.
