Paray-Vieille-Poste (France) (AFP)

The airline Aigle Azur declared Monday in cessation of payment and asked for its placement in bankruptcy in the hope of finding buyers, announced the members of the EC at the end of an extraordinary works council.

"Aigle Azur finds itself in cessation of payment after several years of wandering related to many unsuitable strategic decisions and must be placed under the protection of the Commercial Court" of Evry where a hearing is scheduled in the afternoon, they say in a statement.

"It is likely that the deadline for submission of offers is fixed around September 15, 2019," they add, lamenting that "this bankruptcy filing late (...) and will limit the search for buyers".

"Several potential buyers" however expressed an interest, according to them. Aigle Azur has 1,150 employees, including 350 in Algeria.

"The declaration of cessation of payment was made by the temporary administrator", Hélène Bourbouloux, told AFP Martin Surzur, president of the Aigle Azur SNPL pilot union and member of the EC.

Ms. Bourbouloux was appointed provisional administrator on August 28 by the Commercial Court of Evry after the coup by one of the shareholders, Gerard Houa, who ousted the boss Frantz Yvelin saying his will to end the "mistakes the last two years ".

Frantz Yvelin has since been reinstated to assist the Provisional Administrator. He did not attend the works council on Monday, according to participants.

Sixty employees gathered quietly in front of the company headquarters during the EC.

"We especially hope that there is a buyer.We must go through the bankruptcy, just to have our wages," says fatalistic, Lilac, a flight scheduler who did not want to give his name. "It would be a shame to lose a company that makes 300 million euros in turnover and has traffic rights to Algeria that even Air France does not have."

© 2019 AFP