April 13 (SeeNews) - Flag carrier Air Moldova said that it cancelled three flights on April 12 due to blocked bank accounts.
Air Moldova was unable to pay for services rendered by Chisinau International Airport, fees related to aircraft contracted under wet lease agreements, and fuel needed to operate the three flights, the airline said in a social media post on Wednesday.
"At present, Air Moldova has reached a common denominator with the lender who has blocked the accounts and can operate with them normally," the airline said.
In a press release following the flight cancellations, Moldova’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said that the reason for the flight cancellations is Air Moldova’s “precarious financial situation” and its inability to pay for third party services. If the airline’s financial situation is not rectified soon and its aircraft fleet is not supplemented in order to fulfil the services it has committed itself to deliver, the CAA may suspend its air operator certificate.
According to Air Moldova, the bank serving its activities requested deposit increases in order to guarantee refunds for unused tickets. This led to the airline’s inability to cash in large amounts derived from online ticket sales, it added.
Air Moldova asked the lender to review the imposed conditions and allow it to use a part of the deposit to pay service providers, especially during the next two weeks, when the influx of passengers would increase due to public holidays. The bank refused the airline’s request, according to Air Moldova.
Air Moldova guaranteed refunds for cancelled flights and committed itself to continue negotiations while striving to identify compromises with its partners.
In March, Air Moldova leased three aircraft in order to help it gradually resume flights after cancellations during the same month.
In November, the CAA said that Air Moldova is in danger of insolvency and asked it to submit a plan to remedy its vulnerabilities.
Air Moldova was established in 1993 and currently holds approximately half of the air passenger flow registered on the Moldovan market.