Livingston Air (Milan Malpensa) suspended all operations effective October 6 with three of its fleet of four A320-200s - EI-EUB (cn 1998), EI-EWO (cn 2496), and EI-EXK (cn 2502) - having now been returned to Dublin International to their respective lessors. Subsequent to its announcement, the Italian civil aviation regulatory body (L’Ente Nazionale per l’Aviazione Civile - ENAC) revoked the carrier's Air Operators Certificate on Tuesday, October 7.
The carrier, which has been under considerable financial pressure since the beginning of the summer season, blamed the move on the collapse of the tourism market, leisure routes to Egypt and the Mediterranean basin in particular. Livingston said demand for flights to the region had been impacted severely by the events of the Arab Spring and its fallout. Charter flights to Russia, another popular destination, had also suffered as a result of the current stand-off between Russia and the European Union over Ukraine.
"The sharp drop in revenue is also attributable to some other outstanding debts such as those owed by Rimini Airport, on which the company had relied on for its planned revival and which were never transferred to the airline," it said. "The company's decision to suspend operations, which was previously brought to the attention of the appropriate bodies of the Court of Busto Arsizio, has the objective of protecting the company's assets. Employees, whose outstanding wages will be fully settled, can take advantage of social safety nets provided by law. As of today [October 6], we have started the requisite processes to find a guaranteed solution for workers with the aim of finalizing layoffs by the end of October."
Prior to its suspension, the airline had operated scheduled services between Italy and Albania in addition to various international charter flights to leisure destinations.
