A French court ordered the closure of XL Airways France (Paris CDG) on October 4 after it declared insolvency, the AFP news agency has reported. A commercial court in Bobigny near Paris rejected a last-minute offer for the carrier and ordered that it be placed in judicial liquidation. Its 570 employees will now lose their jobs.
XL had halted all flights on September 30 and struggled to attract bids after being placed into receivership.
A last-minute takeover offer was filed on October 2, originating from Lu Azur, founded by Gérard Houa, one of the minority shareholders of Aigle Azur (Paris Orly), which itself entered into liquidation on September 27. Houa had been one of the declared potential buyers of Aigle Azur before his project was dismissed on the grounds that a shareholder could not be a candidate for the resumption of his own company.
Lu Azur said it was able to provide EUR30 million euros (USD33 million) to revive XL Airways, divided into two halves, EUR15 million (USD16.5 million) in equity and the other half in the form of a shareholder loan, the newspaper Le Monde reported.
The offer amount was close to the EUR35 million (USD38.4 million) originally sought by XL Airways CEO Laurent Magnin to keep the airline running. In addition to the sum, Houa pledged to take back 276 employees, just under half of the workforce, and keep just two of the fleet's four aircraft (three A330-200s and one A330-300, according to ch-aviation fleets). All four aircraft are dry-leased, one each from AerCap, Aviator Capital, Carlyle Aviation Partners, and GECAS, and it is unclear which two Houa would have sought to retain.
Lu Azur said it would have closed what it called loss-making routes to destinations such as St. Denis de la Réunion and Punta Cana, while keeping flights to Cancún.
XL Airways France declared insolvency on September 19 and suspended operations on September 30.
