Eastern Airways enters administration 

Administrators appointed at Eastern Airways hope its operations can be rescued.

 

The UK regional airline entered administration yesterday (Thursday) after the majority of its 330 staff were reportedly made redundant last week.

 

Directors of the Humberside airport-based carrier had filed a notice of intention to appoint joint administrators on October 27 after the Civil Aviation Authority announced all of its flights had been cancelled.

 

Eastern was founded in 1997 and most recently has been flying four aircraft for KLM Cityhopper in Europe and other UK based routes under its own name, as well as running a charter business. 

 

However, the KLM contract was terminated leaving Eastern with high fixed overheads and a staff base that has ultimately proved too high to be sustainable, according to administration  firm RSM Restructuring Advisory.  

 

The directors had been actively seeking alternatives to rescue the company with a "significant immediate funding requirement", according to RSM.

 

“Administration and cessation of day to day operations was unfortunately the only viable option” after Eastern required “significant immediate finding”.

 

Jamie Miller of RSM UK Restructuring Advisory, who has been appointed joint administrator, said sufficient staff had been retained to maintain the fleet while they sought to rescue some or all of Eastern’s operations.

 

He said: “It is extremely sad that such a long established and historically successful independent airline, one of the few remaining in the UK, has had to enter administration.  

 

“The unexpected and sudden termination of Eastern’s KLM contract, along with other economic factors, unfortunately left the directors with no choice but to appoint administrators. 

 

“At its peak, Eastern was an award-winning airline providing 200 flights per day. They also provided valuable services on public service obligation (PSO) routes and supported energy critical services to the oil and gas sector.

 

“Consequently, sufficient staff have been retained to ensure maintenance of the aircraft fleet as we seek to rescue some or all of Eastern’s operations. 

 

"We would welcome any interest from potential alternative operators, or those who may have an interest in the underlying assets.

 

“For those staff not retained, we will provide every assistance to them to ensure they successfully claim their entitlements from the Redundancy Payments Service.”