Norwegian short-haul airline Flyr files for bankruptcy – Gatwick route will not launch

Flyr, the low-cost Norwegian airline operating to a range of European destinations from Oslo, announced tonight that it would file for bankruptcy on Wednesday morning.

If you don’t know the name, you may know the name of founder Erik G. Braathen who owned the now-defunct carrier Braathens.

The carrier launched in late 2021 and had a fleet of 12 Boeing 737 aircraft.

According to a message on its website tonight:

Flyr was not successful with a new financing plan and the board concluded on Tuesday evening that there are unfortunately no alternatives for further operation. The company will file for bankruptcy on Wednesday morning. All Flyr’s flights have been canceled and ticket sales have stopped.

Many thanks to everyone who has chosen to fly with us over the past year and a half, for welcoming us so well and for all the cheers. We will miss you all and deeply apologize to everyone affected by the fact that we now have to go in for landing.

We encourage everyone who has booked a ticket with us to contact their credit card company for a refund.

The executor will take over all responsibility for Flyr. The company will share contact information on www.flyr.com as soon as it becomes available.

The Gatwick launch is therefore off ….

Flyr was planning to launch flights from Gatwick to Oslo for the Summer 2023 season, starting in late March. If you bought tickets for the service, you will need to seek a refund from your credit card company.

The route always looked like a bad idea, since it would be directly competing with Norse Atlantic which operates a long-haul Boeing 787 on the route. Norse Atlantic has a very attractive Premium cabin which I reviewed here.

Flyr also flew to Edinburgh in Summer 2022 but this route was subsequently cancelled.

I expect further announcements to be posted on the Flyr website here. You can read more on Reuters here.

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