UK-based passenger and cargo airline Jota Aviation has appointed liquidators

UK-based passenger and cargo airline Jota Aviation has appointed liquidators after the airline was hit be the impact of Brexit and Covid.

On May 19 it was announced that the company, which at its height in 2018 had offered four BAe 146-300 QT freighters out of Southend, had appointed David Pike and Joshua Dwyer as liquidators.

Paperwork shows that the company cannot continue its business “by reason of its liabilities”. Accounts filings show the last few years have been a tough period for the airline.

The firm’s latest financials, filed in July last year, show the company reported a loss of £3m in the 2019/2020 financial year and a loss of £3.3m in the previous 12 months.

The accounts show that after the initial impact of Covid and its subsequent impact on the agricultural, automotive go-now and passenger markets, the company appeared to have steadied its position and even put a third freighter into operation as it expected a pick up in automotive production and PPE volumes supported cargo.

Then Brexit – on January 1 2021 – added the company’s woes, hitting its go-now automotive business as airlines now needed to apply for permits to fly between Europe and the UK.

Writing in July last year, director Andy Green said: “The slow processing of permits from European Union (EU) states were not mirrored by the UK for EU airlines and we became operationally uncompetitive in a go-now market we had previously mastered.

“This has had a profound impact on the business and combined with ongoing effects of coronavirus on the passenger operation, made trading very challenging.”

Following this initial Brexit-related disruption, the airline was able to operate a number of routings within Europe that were permitted under the trade and co-operation agreement.

At the time it was re-purposing the airline in the narrowbody sector ready for independent tour operators ready for the summer season 2022.

Damian Brett  www.aircargonews.net