{"id":89039,"date":"2019-09-20T10:15:24","date_gmt":"2019-09-20T08:15:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/?p=89039"},"modified":"2019-09-20T14:15:24","modified_gmt":"2019-09-20T12:15:24","slug":"long-haul-low-cost-bankruptcy-xl-airways","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/en\/long-haul-low-cost-bankruptcy-xl-airways","title":{"rendered":"Long-haul low-cost airlines once again rocked by the bankruptcy of XL Airways"},"content":{"rendered":"

The long-haul low-cost carrier XL Airways<\/strong> suspended ticket sales with effect from 19 September<\/strong>due to financial difficulties within the company. \" For over a year, management has been negotiating with several buyers. These negotiations have been unsuccessful, and the company must now place itself under the protection of the Bobigny Commercial Court.<\/em> \"explains the airline in a press release. On its website, XL Airways announces that weekend flights are being maintained, but that from 23 September, some flights are likely to be cancelled. Passengers are therefore invited to check the status of their flight, particularly those making a return flight after this date.<\/p>\n

Created in 1994<\/strong> under the brand name Star Airlines<\/strong> and survivor of the bankruptcy of the British group XL Leisure<\/strong> at 2008<\/strong>XL Airways France then approached The Company<\/strong> in 2016: an unlikely alliance, given the differences between the two carriers' business models.
\nThe Company has found its niche position in the business market<\/strong> while XL Airways, with its long-haul low-cost positioning, suffered from the competition<\/strong> and soaring oil prices<\/strong> since 2018. Until this week, the airline served the French West Indies, Reunion Island, Cuba, Cancun in Mexico, the Dominican Republic and the Caribbean. New York<\/a> with a fleet of four Airbus A330s departing from Paris CDG, Lyon and Toulouse. In 2018, its traffic represented almost 700,000 passengers<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Low-cost long-haul in question?<\/h3>\n

Beyond the Franco-French case linked to the sustainability of the airline business model in France, the bankruptcy of XL Airways shows the limits of long-haul low-cost air transport. The low-cost air transport business model proved to be perfect on short- and medium-haul point-to-point routes, with flight times of up to four hours. High aircraft utilisation, limited hold baggage, turnaround times of 40 minutes on average at the airport, and a limited number of cabin crew have all contributed to the success of this business model. economic success of the model<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Everything is different, however, on long-haul low-cost routes. Flight times do not allow for more than three daily flights per day (for example, for a Paris-New York flight of 6 hours 30 minutes). Fuel savings are negligible, ground turnaround times are longer and the number of cabin crew is greater.<\/p>\n

The long-haul low-cost model has worked well between 2014 and 2017<\/strong> but it has since collapsed as a result of soaring oil prices and increasingly fierce competition from traditional carriers. The latter can afford to offer fares almost on a par with those of low-cost carriers, thanks in particular to a premium offer (Business or Premium Economy) on the same aircraft.<\/p>\n

Over the last two years, low-cost airlines have been going bankrupt or disappearing on a regular basis: Germania (Germany), Primera Air (Denmark), Monarch Airlines (United Kingdom) and Wow Air<\/a> (Iceland). Eurowings' long-haul business in Germany has been reintegrated into the Lufthansa business, with Eurowings aircraft now deployed on routes where unit revenues are low.<\/p>\n

Norwegian still walking a tightrope<\/h3>\n

Europe's largest long-haul low-cost carrier, Norwegian<\/strong>for the past two years in extreme difficulty<\/a> and weaves its way along a precipice. His indebtedness<\/strong> is colossal due to its aircraft purchases. It has just announced new cash requirements to repay two maturing bonds, amounting to around 380 million dollars. It is seeking bondholders to bail it out, even offering as collateral its landing slots at London Gatwick airport, a key element of its transatlantic business. This rescheduling would give the airline a financial breathing space until the end of 2021.<\/p>\n

From Paris, the airline serves seven destinations to the United States. But it has already suspended part of its routes to South America and Singapore, and is closing bases in Palma de Mallorca, Gran Canaria, Tenerife, Rome as well as Stewart and Providence in the United States. If investors refuse, Norwegian could disappear, leaving several million passengers stranded.<\/p>\n

A small ray of hope for all long-haul low-cost carriers in these rather gloomy times: Icelandic airline Wow Air<\/strong> - which ceased operations in March 2019<\/strong> without warning - could resume operations in October, thanks to a major investment by USAerospace Associates. The carrier will be based in Washington and will have two aircraft. But it should have 10 by the summer of 2020, and will be resting all over Europe...<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

XL Airways has declared itself insolvent and filed for reorganisation. This latest bankruptcy - which follows that of Aigle Azur a fortnight ago - raises the question of the validity of the long-haul low-cost model, which is turning into a disaster in Europe. <\/p>","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":89041,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[131,1361,2011],"type-darticle":[],"n_magazine":[],"class_list":["post-89039","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aerien","tag-compagnies-aeriennes","tag-low-cost","tag-faillite","vapo-free"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLe low-cost long courrier de nouveau \u00e9branl\u00e9 par la faillite de XL Airways<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"XL Airways s'est d\u00e9clar\u00e9e insolvable et a demand\u00e9 \u00e0 \u00eatre plac\u00e9e en redressement. Cette nouvelle faillite - qui suit celle d\u2019Aigle Azur il y a deux semaines - pose la question du bien-fond\u00e9 du mod\u00e8le low-cost long courrier, qui tourne \u00e0 l\u2019h\u00e9catombe en Europe.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/en\/long-haul-low-cost-bankruptcy-xl-airways\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Le low cost long-courrier de nouveau \u00e9branl\u00e9 par la faillite de XL Airways\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"XL Airways s'est d\u00e9clar\u00e9e insolvable et a demand\u00e9 \u00e0 \u00eatre plac\u00e9e en redressement. Cette nouvelle faillite - qui suit celle d\u2019Aigle Azur il y a deux semaines - pose la question du bien-fond\u00e9 du mod\u00e8le low-cost long courrier, qui tourne \u00e0 l\u2019h\u00e9catombe en Europe.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/en\/long-haul-low-cost-bankruptcy-xl-airways\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Voyages d'affaires\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-09-20T08:15:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-09-20T12:15:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/xl.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"700\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"313\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Luc Citrinot\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Luc Citrinot\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/en\/low-cost-long-courrier-faillite-xl-airways\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/en\/low-cost-long-courrier-faillite-xl-airways\",\"name\":\"Le low-cost long courrier de nouveau \u00e9branl\u00e9 par la faillite de XL Airways\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/en\/low-cost-long-courrier-faillite-xl-airways#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/en\/low-cost-long-courrier-faillite-xl-airways#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/xl.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-09-20T08:15:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-09-20T12:15:24+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/#\/schema\/person\/c74b2eea412d55da7482e81e95f8edc3\"},\"description\":\"XL Airways s'est d\u00e9clar\u00e9e insolvable et a demand\u00e9 \u00e0 \u00eatre plac\u00e9e en redressement. 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