01 September 2009

SkyEurope Shuts Doors

Sadly the little airline that could finally folded. It filed for bankruptcy today and ended all operations.

I first became acquainted with SkyEurope just before launch when I sad down with Christian Mandel in a Ratskeller somewhere in Germany - I forget where. We laid out a plan for the reservations system and he followed my recommendation.

Sadly SkyEurope became a victim of over expansion and eyes too big for their capacity.

The decline was long and painful but to most inevitable. SkyEurope's model was niche and a nice one at that. They should have held out for staying there rather than the overly ambitious path they took. When O'Leary et al talked about scores of LCCs failing across Europe the seeming high flyer was the poster child for his views.

So sadly - a depressed market and the emergence of a stronger smarter competitor in WizzAir was the ultimate deciding set of factors.

Better Luck next time chaps.

Cheers

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