Astraeus Ceases Ops

[Nozem]

From Airliners.net :

http://www.airliners.net/aviation-forum ... n/5312260/

Copied from the treat:

the Fleet:

For the record, the fleet at the end was as follows:
757
G-OJIB operating Hajj for BMI
G-STRW BZZ based operating for MoD
G-STRX at LGW. Was due to depart tomorrow on lease to new Thai start-up Nakorn Chiangmai Airways
G-STRY operating Hajj for BMI but was due to go to HHN on maint today then winter lease with RX
(G-STRZ returned to lessor for onward lease to FedEx)
737-700
G-STRF operating for Iceland Express
(G-STRN returned to lessor for onward lease to Tonlesap Airlines)
737-300
G-STRI operating for Iceland Express
G-STRJ returned from Tonlesap Airlines lease. Currently in BOH on maint.
737-500
G-PJPJ operating for Iceland Express

Also copied from the forum

Here is a letter to the staff:

,,21 November 2011
MEMO TO ALL STAFF

It is with great sadness that I must advise you that Astraeus Airlines has ceased operations with immediate effect.

The Board of Directors met this morning and concluded that with little visibility on start dates for proposed winter contracts, the forecast losses during the winter period were simply too great to allow Astraeus to continue in business. The board has resolved to place Astraeus into administration today. Mr Nick Cropper of Zolfo Cooper will be appointed in due course and will contact each member of staff.

This news will come as a great shock to many of you, and I appreciate that by this point in this note your thoughts are turning – quite correctly – to your own future. However, I have nevertheless set out below a very brief history of the recent events that have led to this decision.

As you know, I was the founding CEO of Astraeus and left the company in December 2007 at the point when it had started the transition from charter to ACMI business. The ACMI world is a challenging one and is best served through long-term year-round contracts which avoid the seasonal peaks and troughs of the standard leisure market.

The start of the Astraeus ACMI model encapsulated the best of these aims with contracts with bmi, Ghana International, Palmair, Trawel and ,of course, Iceland Express. Unfortunately for Astraeus, and in keeping with the difficult economic climate, these long-term contracts disappeared one by one leaving only Iceland Express as a long term client.

It is true to say that we had a very successful summer operations-wise with Thomas Cook and Thomson, and both were keen to work with us again next year. However, these are summer-only contracts and this leaves a difficult winter period to negotiate. This was not helped by the Icelandic summer season which is somewhat shorter than the traditional UK charter market adding to the stress of winter placements.

The summer 2011 season was also severely impacted by operational issues on the IEX and MOD contracts. Whether through crew shortages, or engines requiring shop visits halfway through the expected normal lifetime, the fact remains that costs outstripped revenue during the key summer months so we did not have the usual cash reserves required to take us through the lean winter months.

When I was asked by Palmi to rejoin Astraeus on 19th October 2011 it was on the basis that the company’s immediate financial needs had been recently met by a £5m funding injection (taking his overall investment in Astraeus to £25m) and that the future commercial outlook was strong. Regrettably, the expected contracts in Asia, South America and the Middle East failed to materialise on a timely basis and directly led to today’s announcement.

This was clearly not the position I expected when I returned to Astraeus and it is of great personal sadness that today I have to close down the company that I started almost 10 years ago. A bright future was just around the corner, but sometimes we are not blessed with the luxury of time to achieve that goal.

It only remains for me to place on record my sincere thanks to all our fantastic staff, who have given so much to the company in good times and troubled times. I wish you all the best for the future wherever it may take you and I am just so sorry that it did not work out the way we had all hoped.

Hugh Parry"

sad news

greetings Ton

[Stratofreighter]

Well, that means Iron Maiden singer/front man Bruce Dickinson is going to have to look for another job, too...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Dickinson#Aviation .

[mac]

De engelse luchtvaart heeft de afgelopen jaren wel veel voor de kiezen gekregen zeg.

Zoom, XL Airways, Astreaus, Silverjet, Viking, FlyGlobespan. Who's next?

[ehusmann]

De engelse luchtvaart heeft de afgelopen jaren wel veel voor de kiezen gekregen zeg.

Zoom, XL Airways, Astreaus, Silverjet, Viking, FlyGlobespan. Who's next?

Except for Silverjet (which simply had an unsustainable business model) all airlines are charters. With the economy going down the drain in the UK, there simply is a lot less business to be made in that area. People are spending less on holidays and so something has got to give. Apparantly the small(er) and weaker are being flushed out right now.

But the next one: bmi. They are in a very bad position (also because of their focus on the middle east) and I would be surprised if they survive for more than a few years.

Erwin

[Hurricane]

But the next one: bmi. They are in a very bad position (also because of their focus on the middle east) and I would be surprised if they survive for more than a few years.

Wasn't BMI sold to BA/IAG?
Source, in Dutch only

[ehusmann]

But the next one: bmi. They are in a very bad position (also because of their focus on the middle east) and I would be surprised if they survive for more than a few years.

Wasn't BMI sold to BA/IAG?
Source, in Dutch only

No, not yet: Lufthansa to sell BMI to British Airways owner IAG (although the title makes you believe it is).
But if IAG buys it, it will certainly be the end of bmi as we know it. There is absolutely no added value of bmi to IAG, other than buying the Heathrow slots and removing a competitor.

Erwin

[aviodromefriend]

There is absolutely no added value of bmi to IAG, other than buying the Heathrow slots and removing a competitor.

If the EU doesn't order them to give up a lot of slots at LHR after this going ahead.

[ehusmann]

That is exactly why I said "If IAG buys them". If they have to give up too many slots I expect them to pull out of the purchase, leaving bmi helpless again.

Erwin

[Cees van der Bent]

De engelse luchtvaart ..........

Zoom,...........

Wasn't ZOOM a Canadian airline ?

Regards
Cees

[Hurricane]

De engelse luchtvaart ..........

Zoom,...........

Wasn't ZOOM a Canadian airline ?

Regards
Cees

Original ZOOM was Canadian indeed however ZOOM UK also started with a B757/B767 ... Explains the overall blue colours on B757 G-STRW

[mac]

Zoom had een engelse dochteronderneming met een brits aoc.

[ Post made via Mobile Device ]

[Miguel van der Loos]

De engelse luchtvaart heeft de afgelopen jaren wel veel voor de kiezen gekregen zeg.

Zoom, XL Airways, Astreaus, Silverjet, Viking, FlyGlobespan. Who's next?

Except for Silverjet (which simply had an unsustainable business model) all airlines are charters. With the economy going down the drain in the UK, there simply is a lot less business to be made in that area. People are spending less on holidays and so something has got to give. Apparantly the small(er) and weaker are being flushed out right now.

But the next one: bmi. They are in a very bad position (also because of their focus on the middle east) and I would be surprised if they survive for more than a few years.

Erwin

Or Thomas Cook. See: http://twitter.com/#!/search/realtime/thomas%20cook

Grtz,

Miguel

[Miguel van der Loos]

De engelse luchtvaart heeft de afgelopen jaren wel veel voor de kiezen gekregen zeg.

Zoom, XL Airways, Astreaus, Silverjet, Viking, FlyGlobespan. Who's next?

Except for Silverjet (which simply had an unsustainable business model) all airlines are charters. With the economy going down the drain in the UK, there simply is a lot less business to be made in that area. People are spending less on holidays and so something has got to give. Apparantly the small(er) and weaker are being flushed out right now.

But the next one: bmi. They are in a very bad position (also because of their focus on the middle east) and I would be surprised if they survive for more than a few years.

Erwin

Or Thomas Cook. See: http://twitter.com/#!/search/realtime/thomas%20cook

Het staat nu ook op Luchtvaartnieuws.nl

http://www.luchtvaartnieuws.nl/nl-NL/Ar ... um=twitter

Grtz,

Miguel

[aviodromefriend]

Maybe a mayor off-topic: Under what name does Thomas Cook work in Holland? Isn't it Neckermann?

[B767-300ER]

Thomas Cook works under the name Thomas Cook (retail-brand), Neckermann (touroperator) and Vrij-Uit (touroperator)