NextJet

NextJet was a Stockholm-based regional airline founded in 2002 that linked northern Swedish inland towns with the capital, many of them on state-supported routes. It stopped flying and filed for bankruptcy on 16 May 2018. A planned restart as Air Scandic under new owners never began operations.

How it started

According to Wikipedia and Airline History, NextJet was founded in 2002. Wikipedia names Magnus Ivarsson as one of the founders and later chief executive. A travel-booking site, Alternative Airlines, says it began with a single Saab 340A and grew through the following years with BAe ATP and Saab 340B aircraft. That account is thinly sourced, so treat the detail with some caution. Early route details are not well documented in the sources we found.

The heyday

Wikipedia describes NextJet as one of Sweden's largest regional airlines, with most domestic services flown from Stockholm-Arlanda. In summer 2010 it also flew from Stockholm-Bromma for Sverigeflyg, and from Mariehamn to Stockholm and Helsinki on behalf of Air Åland. Many of its domestic routes were subsidised by the Swedish state. Wikipedia lists a fleet of 15 and 22 destinations, including Gothenburg, Luleå, Sundsvall, Visby and Västerås. It also lists several Finnish cities and Tromsø in Norway. Its cross-border flights included an Oulu–Luleå–Tromsø service. The Swedish newspaper Inköpsrådet noted that, under public service obligations commissioned by Trafikverket (the Swedish Transport Administration), it connected Hemavan, Vilhelmina, Lycksele, Gällivare and Arvidsjaur with Stockholm. Towns with too few passengers to support a route commercially depended on it.

In its last year, ch-aviation reported an in-house fleet of four BAe ATPs, three Saab 340As and six Saab 340Bs. It also had an ATR 42-300 and two CRJ200s on wet lease. Wikipedia adds that the airline flew executive charters with two business jets, and that Björn Ulvaeus of ABBA was among its investors.

Ownership changed over time. Höga Kusten Flyg, a small airline set up in 2007 to fly Stockholm–Örnsköldsvik, bought NextJet in December 2012. The two brands continued separately until they merged on 1 May 2017. Since July 2016 the group had been owned by the Finnish energy company Katternö, Air Åland and Magnus Ivarsson.

What went wrong

The sources describe a long period of financial strain rather than a single event. Swedish broadcaster SVT reported that the Swedish Transport Agency (Transportstyrelsen) revoked the airline's operating licence in August 2017, citing its financial situation. A new licence followed in late October. Wikipedia adds that about six months before the end, an aircraft was sabotaged, which closed an airport and halted its air traffic. We found no source linking that incident directly to the collapse.

On the day of the bankruptcy, Realtid says the company owed suppliers almost 94 million kronor and served 21 places. Transportstyrelsen revoked its licence the same day, and the company was declared bankrupt the day after. The bankruptcy estate later sued the state for 119 million kronor. Stockholm District Court rejected the claim and ordered the estate to pay about 2.3 million kronor in costs.

The last flight

NextJet stopped paying its bills and applied for bankruptcy on 16 May 2018. According to SVT, all flights from 13:00 that day were cancelled. Its chief executive said in a statement that the board had done everything it could to find a solution but had not succeeded. The Local reported that Arvidsjaur's mayor called the loss devastating, because residents would face almost two hours' travel to the nearest airport. The sources do not name the final flight or its route.

What happened next

The Swedish government answered a parliamentary question by saying that, within 48 hours of the bankruptcy, Trafikverket had started new tenders for the affected public service routes. Travel Report said the flying business was to be sold to Danish Air Transport and Goldcup, which was being renamed Air Scandic and owned by Norway's Olsen Gruppen. The bankruptcy trustee hoped Mariehamn–Stockholm could resume soon. CAPA records the sale as effective on 1 June 2018, and Airline History gives 11 June as the planned restart. Wikipedia states that the airline never resumed operations. The sources we found do not say what became of individual aircraft or staff.

Sources: Wikipedia: NextJet, Airline History: NextJet, CAPA: NextJet profile, LoyaltyLobby, ch-aviation, The Local Sweden, SVT, Realtid, Travel Report, Inköpsrådet, Riksdagen: government reply on Nextjet, Alternative Airlines: NextJet