SkyWork Airlines
IATA ICAO Callsign
SX[1] SRK SKYFOX
Founded1983
Ceased operations29 August 2018[2]
AOC #CH.AOC.1039[3]
HubsBern Airport
Focus citiesEuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg
Fleet size6
Destinations20
HeadquartersBelp, Switzerland
Key peopleMartin Inäbnit, CEO
Employees180

SkyWork Airlines was[2] a Swiss airline with its head office in Belp (BE) near Bern[4][5] and its base at Bern Airport. It primarily operated scheduled flights to destinations across Europe, with additional charter operations throughout the summer months. The airline declared bankruptcy on 29 August 2018 and ceased all operations the same day.[2]

History

Development

Head office of SkyWork Airlines
Former SkyWork Dornier 328-110 which was retired in August 2018

The airline's head office was originally in the north terminal of Bern Airport in Belp.[6][7][8]

The last of three Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 were transferred to Air Berlin by October 2014.[9] Also in October 2014, London-Southend replaced London-City as SkyWork's destination for London.[10] By April 2015 SkyWork had announced a decrease in their London operations from 12 return flights per week to 9 per week.[11] From July 2015 SkyWork served London-City Airport via a stopover at EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg. In 2016 the airline introduced flights from Bern to Usedom via Basel as well.[12]

In November 2015, SkyWork announced the termination of their ACMI contract with Darwin Airline by December 2015. Scheduled flights to London-Southend were terminated due to capacity restrictions.[13] At the same time, SkyWork announced the retirement of their fleet of Dornier 328-110s by autumn 2017 as these were gradually replaced with Saab 2000s.[13] In October 2016, SkyWork entered an interline agreement with Air France-KLM, integrating Bern into that group's global network through Amsterdam.[14]

In October 2017, SkyWork called off plans for extensive scheduled operations from Sion Airport to several European cities, catering for skiing tourism, due to low demand.[15] At the same time, the airline also cancelled its service from Basel to London City Airport.[16]

Demise

On 16 October 2017, the Swiss Federal Office of Civil Aviation (BAZL) announced it would terminate SkyWork's air operator's certificate after October if the airline failed to provide sufficient funds to operate the upcoming winter schedule.[17] As the licence renewal did not take place until the end of the summer schedule, SkyWork Airlines was forced to cancel all flights for the first day of the winter schedule on 29 October 2017.[18] On the same day, SkyWork had to extend the cancellation until 31 October.[18] They also announced they had not yet found an investor to support the company and would continue the search. It was stated that base operations out of Bern Airport alone were not financially viable.[19] Competitor Adria Airways announced that it would take over some metropolitan routes in the event of the airline's demise.[20]

On the evening of 29 August 2018, SkyWork Airlines declared bankruptcy after failed negotiations with a new investor. The airline ceased all operations and handed back its operating license to the authorities.[2]

Destinations

SkyWork Airlines operated scheduled flights to Western European cities along with partially seasonal leisure destinations in Southern Europe from its home base in Bern, as well as a smaller summer seasonal focus city operation in Basel.

Fleet

SkyWork Saab 2000

As of August 2018, the SkyWork Airlines fleet comprised the following aircraft:[21]

SkyWork Airlines fleet
Aircraft In service Orders Passengers[21] Notes
Embraer 170 — 1 80 was to be acquired during 2018[22]
Saab 2000 6 — 50
Total 6 1

The airline previously also operated a fleet of Dornier 328-110s which were gradually replaced by larger Saab 2000s by early 2018.[23]

References

  1. ↑ "IATA - Airline and Airport Code Search". iata.org. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Skywork Airlines ist pleite – 11'000 Passagiere mit wertlosen Tickets" [SkyWork is bankrupt - 11,000 passengers with worthless tickets]. Der Bund (in German). 29 August 2018. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  3. ↑ "List of AOC Holders with Complex Airplanes" (PDF). Federal Office of Civil Aviation. 28 March 2018. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
  4. ↑ "Contact." SkyWork Airlines. Retrieved on 19 February 2012. "SkyWork Airlines AG Aemmenmattstrasse 43 CH-3123 Bern-Belp"
  5. ↑ "Legal notice." Sky Work Airlines. Retrieved on 19 February 2010. "Sky Work LTD. & Sky Work Airlines LTD. Aemmennmattstrasse 43 CH-3123 Belp" Archived November 1, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  6. ↑ "Contact." SkyWork Airlines. Retrieved on 8 December 2010. "SkyWork Flughafen Bern-Belp Terminal Nord CH 3123 Bern-Belp."
  7. ↑ "Terms and conditions." Sky Work Airlines. Retrieved on 8 December 2010. ""We", "our" "ourselves" and "us" means Sky Work Airlines Ltd., domiciled in Bern-Belp, Switzerland." Archived November 2, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  8. ↑ "Ortsplan Belp". belp.ch/. Town of Belp. Archived from the original on 28 June 2013. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
  9. ↑ "The Dash 8Q-400 is finally leaving Bern". flyskywork.com/. SkyWork Airlines. Retrieved 22 October 2014.
  10. ↑ flyskywork.com
  11. ↑ "In Bern-Belp rollen die Köpfe - Austrian Aviation Net". www.austrianaviation.net. Archived from the original on 2015-04-17.
  12. ↑ "The history of our company - SkyWork Airlines". www.flyskywork.com. Retrieved 2017-03-08.
  13. 1 2 flyskywork.com - Minor amendments to winter flight schedule 3 December 2015
  14. ↑ "SkyWork Airlines - Interlining with Air France-KLM". flyskywork.com. Retrieved 2017-01-31.
  15. ↑ austrianaviation.net - "SkyWork passes on Sion flights" 6 October 2017
  16. ↑ flyskywork.com - Changes to winter flight schedule retrieved 6 October 2017
  17. ↑ austrianaviation.net - "BAZL limits Skywork-AOC to the end of October" (German) 16 October 2017
  18. 1 2 flyskywork.com - Information 28 October 2017
  19. ↑ aerotelegraph.com - "Critical hours at SkyWork Airlines" (German) 29 October 2017
  20. ↑ "Adria Airways übernimmt Skywork-Flüge ab Flughafen Bern-Belp" (in German). Neue Zürcher Zeitung. 29 October 2017. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
  21. 1 2 flyskywork.com - "For you in service" (German) retrieved 9 May 2018
  22. ↑ ch-aviation.com - Switzerland's SkyWork to add first E170 in late-1Q18 16 January 2018
  23. ↑ airliners.de - "SkyWork moves back Dornier phase-out" (German) 13 September 2017

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