Small Planet Airlines Poland enters restructuring, fleet is reduced

Small Planet Airlines issued this statement about its Polish subsidiary:

Polish leisure carrier Small Planet Airlines Sp. z o. o announced it has entered into restructuring (accelerated arrangement proceedings) under the Polish law. This step has been planned as an integral part of the business administration changes in Small Planet Group.

Small Planet Airlines Sp. z o. o, the biggest Polish charter airline by passengers carried in 2017, operated 10 aircraft in Poland last summer. The aim of restructuring is to reduce the number of aircraft and attract additional financial investment.

“Small Planet Airlines Poland holds EU Air Operator’s Certificate, has many years of experience serving the biggest Polish tour operators and worked with almost 100 experienced pilots and 300 cabin crews during this summer season”, says Bartosz Czajka, CEO of Small Planet Airlines Sp. z o. o “I believe this is an attractive investment opportunity, especially having the restructuring plan in place. We also own valuable slots in Warsaw Chopin airport and highly demanded summer-peak slots at Greek islands, like Zakynthos, Rhodes, Heraklion and other”, he adds.

Small Planet Airlines Poland is about to finish all summer season programs and company already started reducing the number of aircraft within the fleet for upcoming winter season when demand drops significantly in the local market.

Small Planet Airlines Sp. z o. o is an independent company, so restructuring in the Polish entity will have no effect on the flights operated by Small Planet Airlines Lithuania: it will continue flying from Vilnius and foreign bases as planned. Cambodian company, operating under Small Planet Airlines brand, will continue its usual operations as well.

INFORMATION FOR THE PASSENGERS

Dear Passengers,

We would like to inform you that Small Planet Airlines Sp. z. o. o has entered restructuring process under the Polish law. The aim of the restructuring is to reduce the number of aircraft and to attract additional financial investment.

Entering the restructuring proceedings means that:

All Small Planet Airlines flights from and to Poland (under P7xxxx flight code) continues under reduced schedules, agreed with tour operators;
If you plan to fly with Small Planet Airlines and your flight number begins with P7 flight code contact your Tour Operator for any changes in the travel arrangements;
Flights operated by Small Planet Airlines companies in Germany (under 5Pxxxx flight code), Lithuania (S5xxxx flight code) and Cambodia (LKHxxxx flight code) will continue as planned and without changes.

If your flight was operated and delayed by Small Planet Airlines Sp. z o. o. (under the flight code P7) before October 5, 2018, your claim will be lodged to the list of creditors, and you will receive instructions on how to proceed later. It is worth noting that passenger claims (which by virtue of law are subject to the arrangement) arising prior to the opening of the accelerated arrangement proceedings will be covered by the arrangement in the course of the proceedings. In accordance with Polish law, during the proceedings the company cannot repay the debts which arose before the opening of the proceedings, until the agreement with the creditors is concluded. All claims arising from the opening of proceedings should be paid as a rule on an ongoing basis.

Previously on September 18, 2019 Small Planet announced the restoring of its German subsidiary:

Small Planet Airlines Germany GmbH, a part of Small Planet Group, has commenced a restructuring process. The German Civil Aviation Authority has no objections that the Air Operator’s License will remain in place and therefore, all scheduled flights of Small Planet Airlines GmbH will continue to operate as before.

Small Planet Airlines GmbH has been operating as an independent entity in Germany since the year 2015 and acquired Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC) in the spring 2016. This year Small Planet Airlines Germany has decided to go for rapid expansion which didn’t go according to plan.

“After Air Berlin went bankrupt last year, a niche emerged for the other carriers, and Small Planet Airlines Germany chose to almost double in size year on year in order to take advantage of these newly opened possibilities in the market. However, the company struggled to manage this successfully due to several factors: late delivery of aircraft before the start of the summer season, shortage of crews in the market, unreliable sub charter aircraft and unforeseeable technical events had a devastating impact on a very intense schedule, which led to flight irregularities which in turn led to increasing cost burden. The financial losses incurred by the German company forced it to file for a restructuring process under the German law. Nevertheless, the company continues operations under restructuring”, said Vytautas Kaikaris, the CEO of Small Planet Group, adding “we all stand together in this period to achieve the best possible result out of restructuring for our employees, clients and partners”.

Small Planet Airlines in Lithuania, Poland and Cambodia will continue to operate their flights as planned and prepare for the upcoming winter season by cooperating with the tour operators and carrying passengers to the popular tourist destinations. Lithuanian and Polish entities will also continue implementing its seasonal winter projects in Asia, aimed at increasing the aircraft utilization and balancing seasonality. By the end of this year, Small Planet Airlines expects to fly 3.9 million passengers, an increase of 29% from 2017.

As for today, Small Planet Airlines fleet consists of 29 Airbus A320 and A321 aircraft. The airline operates around 240 leisure routes from 15 European bases.

Top Copyright Photo (all others by Small Planet): Small Planet Airlines (Poland) Airbus A320-232 SP-HAG (msn 1723) PMI (Ton Jochems). Image: 943842.

Small Planet (Poland) aircraft slide show: