The future of Shannon-based airline Skynet was in the balance last night after it reduced its staff by 85 and admitted it no longer had any aircraft to operate.
The airline has suspended all flights and is no longer accepting bookings. About 20 staff have been made redundant, while 65 have agreed to take unpaid leave. Only 15 staff are remaining on at this stage.
Asked would the airline survive its current problems, a spokesman said: "We are working very hard to stay in business, but there are no guarantees. But we are working very hard to re-grow the business".
The 15 staff remaining will now devote themselves to devising a future strategy for the airline. The airline was operating two leased Boeing 737s, but one was returned and another was grounded at Shannon following a dispute with a US leasing company.
This dispute remains unresolved and Skynet will not be able to use the aircraft, sources indicated yesterday. Aer Rianta is also owed almost €200,000 by Skynet for landing charges.
Skynet posted a €4.5 million pre-tax loss for 2002 and has found it difficult to stem losses on its two routes: Shannon to Amsterdam and Dublin to Moscow.
Skynet, while not operating any of its own flights, is promoting the services of Russian airline Pulkovo which is due to start services from Shannon/ Dublin to Moscow and St Petersburg next month. However a spokesman said Pulkovo was an entirely separate airline from Skynet.
The idea of a Russian-Irish airline was the brainchild of former Aeroflot Shannon station manager Mr Boris Krivechenko. He has advised Skynet in the last year, although the main investors are Irish, European and American. While Aeroflot has been a partner of Skynet, it has no equity in the venture.
Skynet is the latest in a series of airlines to struggle for survival in the Irish market and pressure on the company has increased in the wake of closures at Cork-based airline Jetmagic and at budget carrier Jetgreen.
Another airline, Freshaer collapsed last summer after it emerged that it was not correctly licensed and that its chief executive Mr John Lepp had a conviction in the UK for fraud.
One of the biggest shareholders in Skynet is Mr Thomas Kane, the American-born owner of Adare Manor in Co Limerick. One of the driving forces behind the airline in 2001, he initially held a one-third stake but later stepped down as a director and reduced that holding.
