Introduction
Background
The past couple of years have seen a number of major airlines collapse, including Monarch and Air Berlin. Unfortunately, this year has already seen the number of casualties pile up with the likes of WOW Air, FlyBMI, Primera Air and Jet Airways all ceasing operations. With Thomas Cook – the UK’s oldest travel operator – the latest in jeopardy, we look at Lexology’s recent articles in an attempt to analyse this trend and explore the legislation being introduced to support the aviation industry.
Need some AIR – can airlines operate when insolvent?
Executive Summary
The Irish High Court currently has exclusive jurisdiction to make orders against the Registrar (as defined below) pursuant to the Convention and the Protocol (both as defined below).
The recent judgment of Mr Justice McDonald in Unicredit Global Leasing Export Gmbh v Business Aviation Limited and Aviareto Limited1 is a welcome reminder that the Irish Courts will not tolerate misleading registrations on the International Registry for International Interests in Mobile Equipment (the "Registry").
On 23 April 2018, the European Commission opened an in-depth investigation to determine whether the 900 million euro loan granted to the airline Alitaliacomplies with European Union rules for aid to companies in difficulty.
The European Commission has approved, under EU state aid rules, Germany’s plans to grant Air Berlin a temporary €150 million bridging loan. The measure will allow for the orderly winding-down of the insolvent airline without unduly distorting competition in the Single Market.
La Commissione europea ha approvato, in base alle regole comunitarie in materia di aiuti di Stato, il piano della Germania per concedere ad Air Berlin un prestito temporaneo di 150 milioni di euro. La misura permetterà una ristrutturazione ordinata della compagnia aerea insolvente senza distorcere indebitamente la concorrenza nel mercato unico.
If 2016 ended with more questions than answers as to how Brexit would take shape, 2017 began with at least a little more clarity.
The European Court of Justice (the "ECJ") has ruled that, in certain circumstances, when a subsidiary company is wound up, its employees will transfer automatically to its holding company.
What happened?
Air Atlantic SA ("AIA") was a Portuguese company operating in the aviation sector. It had been providing charter (or non-schedule) flight services since 1985.
On 19 February 1993, AIA was wound up. During the winding-up, several of AIA's employees were dismissed as part of a collective redundancy.
The Supreme Court (unanimously dismissing the appeal in Trustees of Olympic Airlines SA Pension &Life Assurance Scheme v Olympic Airlines SA) has held that “economic activity” is central to the definition of “establishment” in the Insolvency Regulation1.