LEVEL Europe, Austria-based company that is part of International Airlines Group (IAG), is entering insolvency, the air carrier announced on June 18, 2020. The Austrian business has ceased trading with immediate effect.
“LEVEL Europe has been impacted by the unprecedented crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic,” the company announced in a statement on June 18, 2020. “Once insolvency proceedings are filed, an Austrian Court will appoint an Administrator.”
The airline would be unable to arrange alternative flights and asked passengers who had bookings with the airline to contact the travel agent, marketing carrier who sold the booking, or wait for an administrator to answer questions. The airline employees, creditors and suppliers are also asked to wait until an administrator is appointed, which is expected on or before June 24, 2020.
LEVEL Europe, formerly known as ANISEC, was the low cost, short haul carrier based in Austria. Its insolvency had nothing to do with LEVEL long haul operations from Barcelona or Paris, IAG spokeswoman told AeroTime News in a statement.
Prior to grounding all its flights due to COVID-19 in March 2020, LEVEL Europe operated a fleet of six Airbus A320 family aircraft.
IAG is the parent group of various European carriers, including British Airways, Iberia, Aer Lingus, LEVEL, and Vueling.
Contrary to what the brand name suggests, LEVEL Europe was established by the Spanish airline Vueling as ANISEC in late 2017. Initially, the air carrier was expected to be branded as Vueling Austria, but was rebranded to the current name at the end of 2019 instead.
Besides the now-insolvent airline, LEVEL brand is used for two more flight operations within the IAG group. Both remaining LEVELs are long-haul carriers, one of which is based in Barcelona and operated by Iberia, and one in Paris-Orly operated by OpenSkies airline.
At the beginning of the year, the airline planned its summer 2020 schedule to consist of routes from Vienna to ten European cities.