SkyWork Airlines was
a Swiss airline with its head office in
Belp near
Bern and its base at
Bern Airport
The Regional Aerodrome Bern-Belp , marketed as ''Bern Airport'',, french: Aéroport de Berne, it, Aeroporto di Berna, rm, Eroport da Berna officially referred to as in German, is a regional aerodrome serving Bern, the de facto capital of Switz ...
. It primarily operated scheduled flights to destinations across Europe, with additional charter operations throughout the summer months. The airline declared bankruptcy on 29 August 2018 and ceased all operations the same day.
History
Development
![HB-AES SkyWork airlines](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8c/HB-AES_SkyWork_airlines.JPG)
The airline's head office was originally in the north terminal of
Bern Airport
The Regional Aerodrome Bern-Belp , marketed as ''Bern Airport'',, french: Aéroport de Berne, it, Aeroporto di Berna, rm, Eroport da Berna officially referred to as in German, is a regional aerodrome serving Bern, the de facto capital of Switz ...
in Belp.
The last of three
Bombardier Dash 8 Q400
The De Havilland Canada DHC-8, commonly known as the Dash 8, is a series of turboprop-powered regional airliners, introduced by de Havilland Canada (DHC) in 1984. DHC was later bought by Boeing in 1988, then by Bombardier in 1992; then by ...
were transferred to
Air Berlin
Air Berlin PLC & Co. Luftverkehrs KG (), branded as airberlin or airberlin.com was a major German airline. At its peak, it was Germany's second-largest airline, as well as Europe's tenth-largest airline in terms of passengers carried. It was h ...
by October 2014. Also in October 2014,
London-Southend replaced
London-City as SkyWork's destination for London. By April 2015 SkyWork had announced a decrease in their London operations from 12 return flights per week to 9 per week. From July 2015 SkyWork served London-City Airport via a stopover at
EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg
EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg IATA airport 3-letter codes for the French area, the Swiss area, and the metropolitan area, french: Aéroport de Bâle-Mulhouse-Fribourg, it, Aeroporto di Basilea-Mulhouse-Friburgo, rm, Eroport da Basilea-Mu ...
. In 2016 the airline introduced flights from Bern to
Usedom
Usedom (german: Usedom , pl, Uznam ) is a Baltic Sea island in Pomerania, divided between Germany and Poland. It is the second largest Pomeranian island after Rügen, and the most populous island in the Baltic Sea.
It is north of the Szczecin ...
via Basel as well.
In November 2015, SkyWork announced the termination of their
ACMI contract with
Darwin Airline
Darwin Airline SA was a Swiss regional airline with its head office in Bioggio, Lugano flying under the brand name Adria Airways Switzerland. It operated scheduled domestic and international services in some western European countries. It used ...
by December 2015. Scheduled flights to
London-Southend were terminated due to capacity restrictions.
At the same time, SkyWork announced the retirement of their fleet of
Dornier 328-110s by autumn 2017 as these were gradually replaced with
Saab 2000
The Saab 2000 is a twin-engined high-speed turboprop airliner built by Swedish aircraft manufacturer Saab. It is designed to carry 50–58 passengers and cruise at a speed of . Production took place in Linköping in southern Sweden. The Saab ...
s.
[flyskywork.com - Minor amendments to winter flight schedule](_blank)
3 December 2015 In October 2016, SkyWork entered an
interline agreement
Interlining, also known as interline ticketing and interline booking, is a voluntary commercial agreement between individual airlines to handle passengers traveling on itineraries that require multiple flights on multiple airlines. Such agreement ...
with
Air France-KLM
The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing for ...
, integrating Bern into that group's global network through
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...
.
In October 2017, SkyWork called off plans for extensive scheduled operations from
Sion Airport
Sion Airport, german: Flughafen Sitten, it, Aeroporto di Sion, rm, Eroport da Sion (Military: LSMS) is the airport of the city of Sion, Switzerland and is located 2.5 km southwest of Sion city in the Rhone Valley. The airport opened i ...
to several European cities, catering for skiing tourism, due to low demand. At the same time, the airline also cancelled its service from
Basel
, french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese
, neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...
to
London City Airport
London City Airport is a regional airport in London, England. It is located in the Royal Docks in the Borough of Newham, approximately east of the City of London and east of Canary Wharf. These are the twin centres of London's financial ...
.
Demise
On 16 October 2017, the Swiss
Federal Office of Civil Aviation
The Federal Office of Civil Aviation (FOCA, german: Bundesamt für Zivilluftfahrt; french: Office fédéral de l'aviation civile; it, Ufficio federale dell'aviazione civile) is the Swiss civil aviation agency, a division of the Federal Departm ...
(''BAZL'') announced it would terminate SkyWork's
air operator's certificate
An air operator's certificate (AOC) is the approval granted by a civil aviation authority (CAA) to an aircraft operator to allow it to use aircraft for commercial purposes. This requires the operator to have personnel, assets, and system in plac ...
after October if the airline failed to provide sufficient funds to operate the upcoming winter schedule. As the licence renewal did not take place until the end of the summer schedule, SkyWork Airlines was forced to cancel all flights for the first day of the winter schedule on 29 October 2017.
[flyskywork.com - Information](_blank)
28 October 2017 On the same day, SkyWork had to extend the cancellation until 31 October.
They also announced they had not yet found an investor to support the company and would continue the search. It was stated that base operations out of
Bern Airport
The Regional Aerodrome Bern-Belp , marketed as ''Bern Airport'',, french: Aéroport de Berne, it, Aeroporto di Berna, rm, Eroport da Berna officially referred to as in German, is a regional aerodrome serving Bern, the de facto capital of Switz ...
alone were not financially viable. Competitor
Adria Airways
Adria Airways d.o.o. (formerly ''Inex-Adria Aviopromet'' and later ''Inex-Adria Airways'') was the flag carrier of Slovenia, operating scheduled and charter services to European destinations. The company's head office was at Ljubljana Jože Pu ...
announced that it would take over some metropolitan routes in the event of the airline's demise.
On the evening of 29 August 2018, SkyWork Airlines declared
bankruptcy after failed negotiations with a new investor. The airline ceased all operations and handed back its operating license to the authorities.
Destinations
SkyWork Airlines operated scheduled flights to Western European cities along with partially seasonal leisure destinations in Southern Europe from its home base in
Bern, as well as a smaller summer seasonal focus city operation in
Basel
, french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese
, neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...
.
Fleet
![SkyWork_Airlines_Saab_2000_HB-IZB_(33228496724)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/SkyWork_Airlines_Saab_2000_HB-IZB_%2833228496724%29.jpg)
As of August 2018, the SkyWork Airlines fleet comprised the following aircraft:
[flyskywork.com - "For you in service"](_blank)
(German) retrieved 9 May 2018
The airline previously also operated a fleet of
Dornier 328-110s which were gradually replaced by larger
Saab 2000
The Saab 2000 is a twin-engined high-speed turboprop airliner built by Swedish aircraft manufacturer Saab. It is designed to carry 50–58 passengers and cruise at a speed of . Production took place in Linköping in southern Sweden. The Saab ...
s by early 2018.
airliners.de - "SkyWork moves back Dornier phase-out"
(German) 13 September 2017
References
External links
Official website
{{Authority control
Defunct airlines of Switzerland
Airlines established in 1983
Airlines disestablished in 2018
Swiss companies established in 1983
Companies based in Bern
Swiss companies disestablished in 2018