powdair postpones launch of Sion service for this winter season

Fledgling airline powdair has decided to postpone flights for this winter following talks with new investors.

After the announcement on Monday November 27 to powdair customers that the first week of flights had been cancelled due to the existing investor pulling out at the last minute, the company was approached by several interested parties and discussions have been underway since.

The decision was made late on Friday December 1, to postpone all scheduled flights for this winter until due diligence has been completed and a new clear business plan with solid funding is in place. This could take up to 30 days to complete.

The company plans to re-start services during 2018.

powdair customers were fully informed of the decision immediately and full refunds are being automatically processed.

Head of commercial for powdair, Zoë Ombler, comments: “We apologise sincerely for the disruption to all of our customers who had travel plans with us this winter. Since Monday we’ve been overwhelmed by the amount of support from investors, businesses and resorts in the UK, Belgium and the Valais.

They sent us a very clear message of support and this inspired us to do all we could to find a new financial backer for powdair. We’ve had significant investment offers from more than one professional and experienced aviation industry investment group. However, the due diligence required to finalise this investment will take at least 30 days and we have therefore made the difficult, but what we feel is correct decision, not to launch powdair this winter.

We expect to relaunch during 2018 as an airline, operating our own aircraft, which gives us a much stronger basis on which to plan route schedules and growth to include Chambery and Innsbruck also.

We strongly believe that a huge opportunity exists at Sion Airport, the support this week makes us more determined than ever. We truly hope that we get the opportunity to welcome customers back on board next year”.