French airline XL Airways has suspended ticket sales. The airline said in a statement to passengers that the move was "due to its financial difficulties". It added that some flights had also been cancelled.

XL Airways is a French airline offering a number of long-haul flights to destinations in North America, the Caribbean, and the Island of Reunion. Last month Simple Flying reported that XL Airways was in negotiations to potentially sell the airline. Now, One Mile At A Time has spotted that the airline has stopped selling tickets. The news comes in a year that has been tough for a airlines, with a number of carriers suffering financial difficulties.

About XL Airways

Founded in 1995, XL Airways is a fairly small French Airline. The airline currently has a fleet of just five aircraft according to Planespotters.net. This includes one of Hi Fly's Airbus A330-200 aircraft. However, the airline's "Our Fleet" page excludes the Hi Fly aircraft. The airline was originally founded under the name Star Europe and holds the callsign Starway.

XL Airways is an economy airline, with its aircraft sporting an all-economy interior. With a 3-3-3 layout, the aircraft can hold between 358 and 408 passengers.

XL Airways, Ticket Sales Stopped, Flights Cancelled
The airline operates the Airbus A330. Photo: Pedro Aragão via Wikimedia

Ticket sales suspended, some flights cancelled

XL Airways has today suspended ticket sales. The French version of the XL Airways website says this is due to "great financial difficulties". The airline has stated that all flights this weekend will go ahead as planned. However, some flights may be cancelled from the 23rd of August.

The airline's full English statement reads:

Dear Customers

Due to its financial difficulties, we are deeply sorry to have to announce that XL Airways is stopping selling tickets effective today, 19th September 2019. Some of our flights may have to be cancelled and therefore kindly ask our customers to verify their flight’s status by visiting our website flightstatus.xlairways.fr For any other query, you may want to contact our call center on +33.3.51.86.00.51. We apology in advance for any inconvenience that this situation may have caused our valuable customers. Our teams are fully committed on working fully towards delivering our customers with our service.

XL Airways, Ticket Sales Stopped, Flights Cancelled
The airline said it suspended ticket sales due to its financial difficulties. Photo: Tomás Del Coro via Flickr

What if I have flights booked?

XL Airways said via their French-language site that flights will take place over the weekend, however, from the 23rd of September some may be cancelled. The airline has set up a toll-free phone number for concerned passengers to contact them. They also advise checking their flight status webpage, however, this currently only covers flights until tomorrow.

Simple Flying has contacted XL Airways for comment. We will keep readers updated with the latest developments in this story.

Are you due to fly with XL Airways? Has your flight been cancelled? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.