Cobalt’s 280 employees are out of a job as from today, after the airline suspended operations around midnight.
Of the 280, 60 are pilots and co-pilots and 130 are flight attendants. The remaining 90 work in the technical, commercial and support departments.
Cobalt employees will hold an emergency meeting with management this morning.
Staff were yesterday paid their salaries, including owed leave. They were also given the 21 day severance pay provided by law. The company also paid outstanding sums to various funds such as social security, income tax and provident fund.
Philenews said that the main creditors are three suppliers of aviation fuel in Cyprus and two at foreign airports. Cobalt flew to 23 destinations. Outstanding sums are also due to one of the two companies from which it leased its airplanes, ground service companies at Larnaca Airport and Hermes Airports.
The news site said that guarantees in force are expected to cover most of these obligations.
The biggest problem is passengers who have been stranded in the aftermath of last night’s suspension of operations.
Philenews said that there does not appear to be a problem with the payment of compensation for an estimated €10m pre-sold tickets. The money is deposited and released gradually. It is available for ticket returns and adequate to cover the purchase price of each ticket.
This means that what must be resoled is the difference in price when passengers are obliged to buy a new ticket from another airline.
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https://in-cyprus.com/news/local/government-knew-about-cobalt-says-transport-minister/
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