Earlier this month, we reported that AtlasGlobal had suspended all operations following a spell of financial difficulty. However, we are now glad to announce that the carrier has picked up operations again.
At 11:15am this morning, they posted on twitter:
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Following the announcement, the first flight (Number KK2001) took to the air again, departing the New Istanbul Airport (IST) enroute to London Stansted (STN). The flight, operated by an Airbus A321 aircraft, departed IST at 1136am – 21mins ahead of schedule; The aircraft also touched down 16mins early at STN, at 1214pm the same day. Moving forward, the IST-STN service is thought to be continuing daily, operating using the Airbus A321 (and occasional A320) aircraft.
What happened with the suspension?
On December 26th, AtlasGlobal announced they were suspending all services temporarily for the next month. The following statement was issued:
We regret to inform you that we had to suspend all our flights as of November 26, 2019 until December 16, 2019 in order to provide the necessary configuration and improvement in our cash flow. All operational processes that will be carried out within the company by this date will be carried out with minimum number of personnel and the personnel will be determined by the unit managers and will be informed by telephone this evening.
Shortly after issuing the statement, the carrier confirmed that due to low passenger numbers, and thus revenue, they had “little choice but to suspend services” and that since the decline of tourism in 2015, the carrier had been facing difficulty.
Moving Forward
The carrier is set to continue flights to it’s 28 destinations including hub-cities in the UK, France, Germany, Middle East and Russia, and will do so utilising it’s existing fleet of 18 aircraft (13 A321-200’s, three A320’s, and one A319 and widebody A330)
Speaking out, the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure of the Turkish Government, said that:
[We] will continue to monitor the company’s efforts to refund tickets to customers bought during this period. AtlasGlobal will determine and compensate passenger-related issues by December 25th at the latest.
Have you been affected by this? Would you fly with AtlasGlobal in the future? Let us know in the comments below!