PowdAir (Sion) has issued an urgent appeal to all investors willing to invest in the start-up ahead of its planned December launch date. The Ireland-based virtual carrier said in a statement on Monday, November 27, that its future was in jeopardy after its key financial backer walked away from the project "for personal reasons".
"We offer the airline to you, our army of passionate powdair supporters, in the hope that you'd like to own a stake in powdair and benefit in our future shared success," it said. "At this late stage, community ownership is realistically the only way we'll be able to make powdair operational this winter."
Airline Chief Financial Officer Sean Pettit added that it needed to secure at least GBP3 million (USD4 million) to operate this winter season with at least GBP1 million (USD1.33 million) needed by the end of this week (i.e. December 1) in order for PowdAir to operate a reduced winter flight schedule.
Without funding, PowdAir said it faced the prospect of having to postpone the start of flights, due on December 11.
PowdAir plans to charter CRJ200 capacity from Denmark's BackBone Aviation (Esbjerg) for use in connecting Sion with cities in the United Kingdom and Belgium. The service targets skiers in particular given Sion's proximity to Switzerland's vast array of ski slopes and lodges.
