The Republic of Estonia-owned Nordic Aviation Group AS (Nordica) and Regional Jet OÜ (Xfly) will cease operations after it was announced the companies will be filed for bankruptcy.
It had been hoped that Lars Thuesen, the owner of Jettime, could potentially take the companies private but on November 18, 2024, Nordic Aviation Group, which runs Nordica and Xfly, were informed that he would not be investing.
“Nordic Aviation Group and Xfly have gone through a challenging path over the past 15 months since the airline began its turnaround process in August 2023. This journey has been marked by immense efforts from the entire team to bring the airline to a new and sustainable footing,” said the CEO of Nordic Aviation Group, Remco Althuis.
The Estonian government initiated the process of privatizing the company in late 2023 after Nordica was founded in 2015 to guarantee the country’s air links following the demise of the former flag carrier Estonian Air.
The final discussions on privatization have been ongoing during the past week, with “both sides showing goodwill to reach a mutually acceptable outcome”.
“[…] the potential investor informed us about his intention not to proceed with the privatization, as the associated risks were too high,” explained the Chairwoman of the Supervisory Board of Nordic Aviation Group, Kadri Land. “Consequently, the Management Board informed the Supervisory Board about its intent to cease the operations of Nordic Aviation Group and Xfly and start the necessary proceedings to file for bankruptcy.”
The company has informed all its employees and cooperation partners, including the lessors of the aircraft, about the intention to file for bankruptcy.
“Our aim is to hand over the aircraft Nordic Aviation Group and Xfly are using to the lessors at the first possible time, most likely during the upcoming days. This is accompanied by all relevant formalities applicable to bankruptcy proceedings, including notifying the Estonian Unemployment Fund,” Althuis added.
According to ch-aviation, Nordica and Xfly’s current active fleet includes a single Airbus A320-200 and three Bombardier CRJ900ERs.
Since 2019, Nordica has focused most of its activity in the ACMI market.