JOTA Aviation (London Southend) has suspended all operations, retired all of its aircraft, and reportedly filed for administration.
The British charter specialist operated its last revenue flight on April 10, 2022, flying from Clermont-Ferrand to Nottingham East Midlands with its only ARJ-100, G-JOTS (msn E3355). The aircraft was subsequently ferried to Cranfield on the next day. The airline's only ARJ-85 was ferried to Cranfield in March, joining two of its three remaining BAe 146-300(QT) that had been parked there earlier. The final aircraft to retire was the third BAe 146-300(QT), G-JOTD (msn E3168). Although it operated the last revenue flight on March 17, it had remained parked at London Biggin Hill through April 19 and only then was ferried to Cranfield.
The carrier currently lists all three BAe 146-300(QT)s as available for sale through sister company JOTA Aircraft Leasing.
The airline did not issue a statement about the suspension of operations, but has deleted its social media accounts. It did not respond to ch-aviation's request for confirmation of its current status or the reports of it going into administration. JOTA Aviation Limited remains registered as a British company but is overdue on filing its financial report for 2021.
JOTA Aviation focused on sports charters, but also operated other types of passenger charters and cargo operations, including an airbridge between Birmingham, GB and Ostend to bypass Brexit-induced traffic jams around the English Channel.
JOTA Aviation was the last commercial operator of BAe 145/Avro RJ quadjets in Europe. Bulgaria Air (FB, Sofia) operates a single ARJ-70 in a VIP configuration, while Formula 1 Management, the defence holding QinetiQ, and the Natural Environment Research Council (under the AOC of Directflight) own aircraft of this family as corporate jets.
