If companies were like cats then Cityjet might have just barrelled through the third of its nine lives. The High Court has just appointed Kieran Wallace and Andrew O’Leary of Interpath Advisory Ireland as interim examiners to the airline, once Ireland’s third carrier after Aer Lingus and Ryanair.
The company – which hasn’t operated any scheduled flights under its own name since 2018, instead leasing aircraft and crew to other carriers such as Scandinavian airline SAS – is certainly no stranger to the process.
Thursday marked the third time since its inception that the airline, once known for its London City Airport routes, has had to go cap in hand to the High Court, seeking its protection from creditors. It survived one process in 1996 and then again in 2020 after its fleet was grounded by the Covid pandemic.
Now, Cityjet – which joined up with Spain’s Air Nostrum to create a new regional airline group in 2023 – is in trouble once again.
With a lucrative Lufthansa contract set to end later this year as part of a strategic move by the German aviation giant, the Irish carrier requires breathing space, the court heard, having spent €13 million or so pursuing the contract. Of particular issue are amounts owed to Canadian aircraft lessor EDC, which Cityjet is unable to pay.
The most recent set of accounts for Cityjet, which are now out of date, showed its total liabilities exceeded assets by €18.2 million at the end of 2022, with accumulated losses of €476.8 million having built up there by that stage. The net deficit has since grown to €38.5 million, the court heard.
On Thursday, Mr Justice Michael Quinn appointed the examiners on an interim basis, pending a full hearing of the petition on May 26th, to which any particularly peeved creditors can object.
Still, the company, which employs more than 124 people in Dublin, is confident that it has a future if it can successfully restructure, according to sources familiar with the situation. In the meantime, spare a thought for the non-preferential creditors.
