BRA Braathens Regional Airlines belongs to Braganza holding owned by Per G. Braathen, a Norwegian enterpreneur.
It started operating in 1981 and got it present form in 2016 after a merger of 3 air companies.
The airline served 2 million passengers per year and made up 30% of Sweden`s air traffic.
On April 6, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, BRA Braathens Regional Airlines applied for restructuring to protect itself from bankruptcy. The company hopes to resume operations at the end of summer when the market environment gets better. Presently its management is negotiating with trade unions on around 600 emloyees` dismissal.
Last year BRA already replaced its 10 older jet aircraft with more economical new turboprops ATR 72-600 and Avro RJ100.
The ticket sale plummeted when the crisis began to evolve. On March 19 the air company announced that the number of flights would be reduced to minimum, and on April 1 - that all its air transportation would be paused till May 31.
“After careful consideration, the company’s board of directors chooses to apply for restructuring and freeze the business completely. This will give us room to develop a long-term sustainable business plan. I deeply regret how this affects employees and customers”, - as the company`s CEO, Geir Stormorken, reported.
The air carrier is planning to cover all the cancelled flights for the passengers, when the activities are resumed:
“The fact that we ended up in this situation and are forced to suspend our operations is beyond our control and we regret the trouble it causes our customers. We will do our utmost to compensate customers if we reopen the business”, - as stated by Ulrika Matsgård, commercial manager.
Along with BRA`s current situation, such commercial airlines as Flybe and Germanwings have recently shut their activity.
The British Flybe was the biggest independent regional air carrier in Europe, having covered over 50% of Britain`s internal flights outside London.
The low-cost Germanwings was shut by Lufthansa, the large European airline group it belonged to.