Christopher Adam

SkyEurope’s financial situation went from bad to worse today, after Prague Airport decided that it would no longer serve the Slovak low-cost carrier’s flights until it paid its outstanding debt. Prague’s move follows the Vienna Airport’s decision to cancel all SkyEurope flights due to unpaid bills, which forced the carrier to transport ticket-holders to Bratislava Airport, located 59km from the Austrian capital.

But the question now becomes whether or not SkyEurope will be able to survive the suspension of both its Prague and Vienna bases, and the likely collapse in passenger bookings. The first signs seem to cast doubt on SkyEurope’s future. Bratislava Airport’s website indicates that the vast majority of SkyEurope flights due to depart today have been canceled. Additionally, the airport’s website suggests that all SkyEurope flights scheduled for this evening and early Tuesday morning have been cancelled as well, including London-Luton, Brussels, Amsterdam, Bucharest-Baneasa, Istanbul, Lisbon and Larnaca. Almost all arrivals into Bratislava have been canceled as well for later this evening and early Tuesday morning, including flights headed to the Slovak capital from Nice, Barcelona, Amsterdam, Paris-Orly and Rome-Fiumicino.

SkyEurope offered 20 destinations from Prague, but all of these flights will be suspended effective Tuesday, September 1, 2009. While the Slovak carrier issued no comments following the suspension of its Prague operations and the cancellation of nearly all flights from Bratislava, airport officials in Prague did suggest that they would be willing to resume flights, as long as the airline paid its outstanding balance. „If cash is delivered during the course of the day tomorrow, our company is prepared to immediately [resume] provision of services up to the amount of the deposit paid,” Prague officials noted.

SkyEurope’s has faced difficult odds for the past year, as Hungarian low-cost carrier surpassed its Slovak rival by becoming the region’s largest discount airline and as SkyEurope bookings dropped by 37 percent over the past 12 months.