An official with Ernst & Young confirmed what many people were expecting for two months— that Greek-Canadian start up airline SkyGreece is officially bankrupt. The official announcement came after the airline ceased operations in September, leaving hundreds of passengers stranded in airports on both side of the Atlantic.
SkyGreece was founded in 2012 by Fr. Nicholas Alexandris, a Greek Orthodox priest from Toronto and two businessmen Ken Stathakis and Bill Alefantis.
Operations began in 2014 with one Boeing 767 and flights to or from Athens and Thessaloniki as well as Budapest, Montreal, Toronto, New York’s JFK airport and Zagreb.
The airline abruptly cancelled its flights at the height of the busy tourist season in late August, saying first that it was due to technical reasons and then blaming the capital controls that were imposed on Greek banks.
Hundreds of angry passengers joined a Facebook page called SkyGreece Troubles where they voiced anger and frustration and posted images of being stuck at airports, following SkyGreece flight cancellations. Much of the anger was pointed to the airline’s founders, who each pointed the finger at each other, or deflected responsibility.
Jeffrey Kerbel of Ernst & Young confirmed that the airline was bankrupt, after filing for creditor protection in September in a bid to restructure, according to a story in the Toronto Star.
A Twitter photo from a Canadian journalist shows that the airline’s name has been painted over on the company’s sole airplane that has been parked at Toronto’s Pearson Airport since August.
SkyGreece Boeing 767; company titles removed & now w/U.S. registration #Toronto https://t.co/osWagHuXbj pic.twitter.com/oOTLa8OweS
— Tom Podolec (@TomPodolec) November 19, 2015