25dec2020: Fokker 100 operator Montenegro Airlines ceases operations.

[Stratofreighter]

https://simpleflying.com/breaking-monte ... shut-down/
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https://www.exyuaviation.com/2020/12/mo ... e-for.html

In a statement, the airline said,
"The Montenegrin government's decision to shut down our company will have a negative impact on the entire aviation sector in the country.
We would like to inform the public that starting tomorrow, December 26, 2020,
we are completely suspending all operations".

The airline carried some ten million passengers over the past two and a half decades,
with over 350 people loosing their jobs tonight.

The Montenegrin government has announced that a new carrier will be formed in its place within the next six to nine months.

https://balkaninsight.com/2020/12/25/mo ... l-airline/

The Montenegrin government ordered the closure of indebted flag carrier Montenegro Airlines,
pledging to form a new company by the end of 2021.

Despite opposition warnings of the economic impact,
Montenegro’s new government on Thursday
ordered the closure of national airline Montenegro Airlines,
citing debts racked up under previous governments.

Capital Investments Minister Mladen Bojanic said
it would cost 50 million euros to close the flag carrier and take up to nine months to create a new one.

“The new government is reaping the fruits of trickery,
in which the previous government and the company cheated each other for years
and created a distorted picture for the public,” Bojanic told a news conference.

Montenegro Airlines schrieb in den vergangenen Jahren stetig Verluste.
Mehrer Versuche zur Privatisierung sind wegen den schlechten Resultaten,
aber auch wegen Schlagzeilen um gefälschte Bilanzen und hohen Schulden, gescheitert.
Aktuell betreibt die Fluggesellschaft drei Embraer E195 und eine Fokker 100.

https://www.aerotelegraph.com/regierung ... o-airlines

https://www.flightglobal.com/airlines/s ... 58.article

Among the debts owed, it says, are €1.2 million to lessors of its E195s plus another €600,000 relating to the engines.

The government adds that the company also owes €500,000 to Belgrade airport
and €160,000 to air navigation organisation Eurocontrol.