Air Skåne's suspension of flights between Bromma and Skåne was just a taste. Now the regional brand's parent company, Air Leap Aviation, is canceling all flights in the country and hopes that a corporate restructuring will save the company from bankruptcy. But it is highly uncertain whether the emerging airline will take off in Skåne again

It has now been almost four years since Air Leap started flights in the Nordic region, and about 1.5 years ago, the Norwegian-owned airline expanded its operations with traffic from the destinations Malmö and Ängelholm to and from Bromma.

But already At the end of September last year, the airline announced that it was suspending traffic between Skåne and the capital. The last flights to and from Ängelholm were on October 10, and two weeks later, traffic to and from Malmö also ended.

Air Leap includes the regional brands Air Skåne Malmö, Air Skåne Ängelholm, Air Halland and Air Gotland. These brands are collected in the separate company Air Leap Scandinavia, which ceased with the break last autumn. Instead, flight operations continued through the parent company, Air Leap Aviation, from limited destinations in Sweden with a concentration to and from Arlanda, as well as two additional routes in Norway.

On Monday, the parent company announced that it would immediately cancel all of its flights in the country. The aircraft fleet includes four Saab 340s with seating for just over 30 passengers, as well as an ATR 72 with seating for 72 passengers. In addition to its own planes, it has also leased capacity from the airline Amapola. Now, the board of directors of the parent company has filed for corporate restructuring as a last-ditch attempt to save the company from bankruptcy.

”"The feeling when Air Skåne was paused last fall was that the term "pause" was a somewhat euphemistic description of an upcoming permanent closure. It was already understood then that a lot would have to be done for Air Skåne to be resurrected, and after that announcement, even more has happened in the wrong direction linked to the pandemic," says Per Jonsson, regional manager for Air Skåne Malmö.

When the pandemic struck at the beginning of 2020, the number of passengers decreased drastically and many airlines stopped flying. At the same time, Air Leap was largely alone in flying between Bromma and Skåne when the coronavirus was at its worst. In mid-August last year, the airline also increased its traffic frequency, with an ambitious plan to increase capacity further in the next timetable change. But the number of passengers did not reach the necessary level, which punctured the company's already strained finances.

”"There is no person on the planet who could predict how long the pandemic would last. You could also say that when a void arose, Air Leap tried to take a place in the Skåne market and maintain its position. But that was not the case when the airline BRA started its operations again. There have been setbacks after setbacks," says Per Jonsson.

The parent company includes cabin crew and technical staff totaling approximately 120 people, while the staff within the regional brands have been employed by Air Leap Scandinavia. In the latter company, the workforce amounted to a maximum of 15 employees, where the employees have primarily had commercial functions and responsibility for bookings at the respective regional airports.

”"At this point, we at Air Leap Scandinavia have already been in liquidation for quite some time. I am the last remaining employee and my employment formally ends on Friday," says Per Jonsson.

The turbulent The work situation is nothing new to him. In the midst of a raging pandemic last year, he was forced to leave his job as CEO of the Radisson Blu Hotel in Malmö, and went from one crisis industry to another as regional manager for the airline Air Skåne Malmö.

Now he is returning to the hotel industry as the new operations manager for Sturup Airport Hotel at Malmö Airport.

”"Starting Tuesday next week, I will start my new position. I will work with both operations and commercial issues surrounding the hotel," says Per Jonsson.

Source: DI.SE