Paris (AFP)
Several brands of interest, but no firm offer of recovery in the state, were received for the airline XL Airways at the deadline of deposit of the offers Saturday noon, one learned from close source of the file .
There are "different signs of interest," said the source, but questions remain about the financing capabilities of buyers who have made themselves known, which casts doubt on the future of the airline after the the cessation of activity of Aigle Azur.
"Today, we can say that we do not have anything at all, but we also do not have what it takes to make an offer (...) It's complicated at this time" , added this source.
"There are expressions of interest" but as in the Aigle Azur file "they are not funded," according to the same source, who said that discussions with foreign companies took place.
In suspension of payment, XL Airways was placed Monday in receivership, the possible buyers having until noon Saturday to make known to the administrator of the court, which itself had to file them in the registry Wednesday at the commercial court of Bobigny.
Its CEO, Laurent Magnin, had since multiplied calls for help to Air France-KLM, but without success. On Friday, Air France-KLM leader Benjamin Smith dismissed the idea of taking over the troubled company, saying he saw "no profit" for his company in such an operation.
XL Airways employs 570 people and in 2018 transported some 730,000 passengers with four Airbus A330s, all leased. It mainly serves North America, including the United States, the Caribbean and Reunion but also China.
The company needs 35 million euros to leave, said its CEO Laurent Magnin for whom she was the victim of the "unbridled international competition" of low-cost long-haul companies and the weight of taxes and social charges in France .
For its part, the bankrupt airline Aigle Azur saw its activity cease on Friday night, none of the offers of recovery having been retained by the commercial court of Evry.
Faced with this situation, about fifteen air transport unions on Friday called on the government to help their sector.
"Given the urgency of the matter, we propose to meet as soon as possible to feed your thinking on the strategy that will emerge tomorrow the French air transport of the deadly trajectory in which it is engaged", wrote these unions grouped in inter-union in an open letter to Secretary of State for Transport Jean-Baptiste Djebbari.
© 2019 AFP