Blue Panorama filed for bankruptcy protection.

Blu-express Boeing 737-400 in Catania

The Italian low-cost, leisure and charter airline Blue Panorama has filed for bankruptcy protection. This give the ailing carrier the possibility, to restructure it´s deficit-making business, similar to Chapter 11 in the US. The operations of the airline are unaffected by this step.

Blue Panorama was established in 1998. The airline offers leisure long-haul flights from Italy to destinations around the world with Boeing 767-300ER and Boeing 757-200. Beside this, the airline has the low-cost brand Blu-express that operates with a fleet of 2 Boeing 737-300 and 4 Boeing 737-400 various domestic flights in Italy and as well international connections to Russia, Greece and France. The airline has ordered eight Sukhoi Superjet and has options for four additional aircraft of this type.

In the beginning of 2012, Alitalia announced, that it would acquire Blue Panorama, it´s subsidiary Blu-express and the now failed Wind Jet. A few months later the merger talks with Blue Panorama/Blu-express were dropped. The merger talks with Wind Jet come to nothing, the Sicilian LCC was forced to cease it´s operations in August this year.

It is to expect, that the airline will cut a lot of it´s domestic frequencies. The Italian domestic market is overcrowded with low-cost carriers.