Passengers to be flown home after airline collapse

All passengers stranded abroad after the Irish tour operator JetGreen stopped trading will be flown home, it was confirmed today.

The newcomer had been selling budget travel packages from Dublin Airport to Spain’s Alicante and Malaga regions.

The Commission for Aviation Regulation said it believed it ceased trading earlier this morning for financial reasons, after only taking to the air on May 4.

A commission spokesman said: “They weren’t allowed to commence trading until they had provided a bond to ensure against any problems.

“The bond came into affect to repatriate people who may have flown with the airline to Spain.

“It will also refund people who paid for tickets who have receipts.”

The company was flying as a tour operator by chartering aircraft through a subsidiary of Icelandair.

A statement from JetGreen Airways said it would not be able to fly anyone home.

JetGreen Airways is believed to have lodged a bond amounting to a six-figure sum, between €350,000 and €500,000, to get its tour operators licence earlier this year.

JetGreen Airways had announced it would be flying to a host of European cities for the summer months, including Rome, Nice and Faro.

The operator was taking bookings for the routes although it had not organised the landing slots with Aer Rianta in Dublin Airport.

The airport operator wrote to the company last week, which stated if an application for landing slots was not lodged it would inform the aviation regulator.

Aer Rianta confirmed customers who had booked flights on its new route to Rome had contacted the airport.

A banner on the website read: “We aim to be the finest, most stylish low fare, low cost and high service tour operator. JetGreen – Fly the difference!”

The operator had attracted customers by advertising €1 flights from Dublin to Malaga in the national newspapers.

Brendan Moran of the Irish Travel Agents Association said: “We had in the past expressed concern to the commission as their advertising portrayed them as being an airline when they are not at all.

“All ITAA travel agents have got stringent review procedures on an annual basis.

“Once again the consumer has been inconvenienced and it need not have happened,” he added.

It is believed there could be advance bookings of up to 40,000 people.

“If there are high numbers of people discommoded, it will be a huge operation for the commission to undertake.

“It is difficult to say how many people could be abroad with them.”

The UK-based airline, Duo Airlines, which was planning to fly out of Shannon airport to the UK and Europe collapsed just last week.

This follows in the footsteps of Cork regional airline, JetMagic, which suspended trading in January.