Scandinavian airline Sterling goes belly up

The latest budget airline to call it quits is Copenhagen-based Sterling, which announced on 29 October that it was cancelling all flights immediately. This abrupt and unexpected announcement left about 350 passengers stranded at Oslo and Copenhagen airports wondering what to do next.

According to the newspaper Aftenposten, the budget carrier’s board and shareholders had been trying desperately to keep its planes in the air, but the cost of unpaid fuel bills eventually mounted up and they were forced to declare bankruptcy. Unfortunately for passengers who have already booked a flight with Sterling, they will probably have to get in line with the other creditors waiting to file a claim for compensation.

Norwegian Air, who has worked in conjunction with Sterling on several routes in the past such as Nice, Malaga and Alicante, is trying to help accommodate as many of Sterling’s stranded passengers as possible. However, most ticket holders will simply have to find their own way back home, and pay for it from their own pockets.

An Icelandic company has owned Sterling for the last three years, and the near collapse of Iceland’s entire banking community was cited as a direct cause of Sterling’s demise. Norwegian Air announced it is opening a new Stockholm-Copenhagen route, and perhaps will pick up some others once serviced by Sterling. It is likely other regional budget carriers will follow suit to keep the planes flying between Scandinavian destinations.