Fighting for altitude

The charter airline Fischer Air Polska (FAP) denied rumors of its bankruptcy and announced that it will continue to operate.

"We survived and we will survive," said the company's president David N. Vincent. "We are negotiating in order to win investors," he explained. FAP also announced that it is rebranding to a new name, Euro Charter.

Rumors that the airline was having problems emerged after the bankruptcy of the Open Travel Group, which, like FAP, was owned by Podróże TV (PTV). Currently, the airline is 80-percent owned by Cash Flow, which bought it from PTV in September.

However, the bulk of FAP's problems stem from its relationship with Polish Airports (PPL). Due to the airline's debts, which amount to zł.890,000, PPL terminated its agreement with FAP to provide airport services. As a result, the airline has to pre-pay in order to use the airports. FAP claims that the debts resulted from its loss of two airplanes last winter, due to accidents on the ground for which the airline blames PPL.

"The losses caused by the damage amounted to $5 (zł.15.5) million," FAP's financial director Krzysztof Szymański said. He added that the engine of one plane was damaged by a piece of frozen concrete, while the other had a wing punctured as a result of mishandling. FAP is now suing PPL for damages.

Fischer Air's management claims that if the airline disappears from the market it would damage the tourist industry.

"The tourist business needs Fischer Air," maintains Vincent. The operator has a 25-percent share in the market for short-haul charter flights and a 100-percent share in long-haul charter flights.