(Repeats story from late Tuesday)
* SkyEurope struggled to restructure debts
* Flights and shares suspended, thousands stranded
(Adds Chairman, details on passengers)
By Martin Santa and Mark Heinrich
BRATISLAVA/VIENNA, Sept 1 (Reuters) - Low-cost airline
SkyEurope <SKYV.VI> has filed for bankruptcy and suspended all
flights, the company said on Tuesday after it lost a struggle to
restructure debt and cope with sinking revenues.
The downfall of the small Slovakia-based carrier, which was
launched in 2001 and served mainly continental Europe, left
thousands of passengers stranded on Monday and Tuesday.
The company website told customers to "order a return flight
from some other airline at your own expense." Austrian Airlines
AG <AUAV.VI> and low-cost carrier FlyNiki have been offering
alternatives.
SkyEurope Chairman Nick Manoudakis told Austrian broadcaster
ORF late on Tuesday the company stopped selling tickets as soon
as the extent of the problem became clear.
"Even yesterday, we thought the bankruptcy could have been
avoided," he told ORF.
He has been head of the company since July.
The airline had obtained creditor protection for three
months in Slovakia in June and was trying to restructure and pay
its outstanding debt.
But SkyEurope said a trustee appointed by a Slovak court
determined the carrier did not have the funds to carry on in
light of reduced bookings and flight revenue.
The economic slowdown hit the airline hard and its financial
woes compounded its problems, causing it to lose even more
passengers because of concerns it could become insolvent.
Passenger traffic in July declined 37 percent year-on-year.
"The airline had tried to set up a bridge financing facility
to remedy the liquidity shortfall, but this facility was not
funded at the last moment," the company said in a statement.
The Vienna stock exchange has suspended trading in SkyEurope
shares with immediate effect until further notice.
Twelve SkyEurope flights were cancelled on Monday in
Bratislava leaving 1,200 passengers stranded, an airport
spokeswoman said. On Tuesday, 21 flights were cancelled and the
total number of affected passengers is still not known.
PLANES GROUNDED
Prague airport had said it would bar SkyEurope landings from
Tuesday because it failed to pay its bills. Vienna airport
stopped servicing SkyEurope on Aug. 15.
SkyEurope said in July it had a new investor who was ready
to inject as much as 16.5 million euros in equity and that it
also had a 5 million bridge loan.
The company posted a net loss of 18.9 million euros in its
fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2008, compared with a 15.7 million
euro loss in the previous fiscal year.
SkyEurope had a fleet of 14 aircraft with 697 employees
serving 38 destinations at the end of 2008. Its flight load
factor was 72.7 percent. []
Its larger competitor, Irish budget airline Ryanair, trimmed
its full-year profit forecast a month ago when it was forced to
cut fares to fill aircraft.
(Additional reporting by Sylvia Westall in Vienna; editing by
Andre Grenon)
