German low-cost carrier Germania has filed for bankruptcy. As a consequence, the airline has immediately suspended all flights today. The drastic action is a result of a failure to find short term funding to secure the airline's continuance. The airline's employees were informed of the drastic action before it was publicly announced.

There have been a number of high profile airlines bankruptcies in the past year including Primera Air, Cobalt Air, and very almost Flybe. The driving factor for many of these has been the rising cost of fuel over the past 12 years.

German LLC

Germania was founded in 1979 and originally focused itself on charter operations. However, in more recent years, the airline has moved into the low-cost market. As of now, the airline has 29 aircraft in its fleet according to FlightRadar24. This was made up of B737s and members of the A320 family.

According to the airline, the reasons that led to the financial problems started back in the last summer. Despite carrying over 4 million passengers a year, the high cost of fuel over the summer really hit the carrier. They also cited the weakening of the euro against the US dollar as a significant contribution. However, In similarity with Primera Air, the German low-cost also cited delays in phasing aircraft into the fleet.

What If I Have Flights Booked?

Your options will depend on how your flights were booked. Much like in the United Kingdom, package holidays will be protected, however, individual bookings will not be so lucky. If your flight was booked as part of a package holiday, then you need to contact the tour operator who booked the package.

If you booked your flight directly through the airline, then, unfortunately, there is no entitlement to change your flight. It is worth contacting the issuer of card you booked the flights with. They could have some protection against airline insolvency. Additionally, it may be worth checking if any travel insurance held covers these events.

Germania Statement

Karsten Balke, CEO Germania Fluggesellschaft, said: “Unfortunately, we were ultimately unable to bring our financing efforts to cover a short-term liquidity need to a positive conclusion. We very much regret that consequently, our only option was to file for insolvency. It is of course the impact that this step will have on our employees that we regret the most. All of them as a team always did their best to secure reliable and stable flight operations – even in the stressful weeks behind us. I would like to thank all of them from the bottom of my heart. I apologise to our passengers who now cannot take their Germania flight as planned.”

Have you been affected by the sudden collapse of Germania? Let us know in the comments down below.