Turkish-based airline Sky Airlines has suspended flights and sister tour operator GTI Travel has ceased trading following the collapse of parent company Kayi Group.
The charter airline, founded in 2001, announced on its website today it had stopped flying until further notice. It flew to Antalya in Turkey as well as on domestic routes and is understood to have operated flights out of 24 airports in Germany as well as offered services out of the Netherlands,Switzerland and across Europe. It has offered flights out of London Stansted airport in the past.
A statement on its website says all flights have been suspended until further notice due to economic difficulties with international tour operators failing to pay fees.
It is understood this follows parent company Kayi Group filing for bankrupcy today.
The Kayi Group owns tour operator GTI Travel in Germany, which sends 350,000 passengers a year to Turkey. GTI’s website says the company has become insolvent with “immediate effect” following the suspension of Sky Airlines’ flights.
Sky Airlines’ customers include most leading German tour operators. It is understood to have operated 15 aircraft in 2010, carrying 1.9 milion passengers.
Hugh Morgan, Monarch Travel Group managing director and interim chairman of Abta, said the failure was unlikely to impact the UK market.
“Turkey [holiday sales] are doing very well out of the UK. If the company had a lot of flight seats out of the UK then you would expect prices to go up but as it doesn’t appear to, it should not particularly affect us,” he said.
Morgan said the riots in Turkey were not having “any affect” on package holiday sales to Turkey with resorts unaffected by recent demonstrations in Istanbul. The market, in terms of package holiday sales, is up by around 2% to the destination for this summer.
Alan Bowen, managing partner of AGB Associates, said the large-scale failure was “the last thing” Turkey’s tourism industry needed in the wake of the recent rioting.