Bricknell said: “We apologise to our loyal customers for any and all inconveniences experienced."

Bricknell referred to an incident in which an engine fell off one of its planes on its departure from Cape Town International Airport in November last year.

"Subsequent to this, a protracted grounding of our fleet was mandated by the SA Civil Aviation Authority.

"In the months of December and January, we resumed operations and attained a gradual recovery of the business. However, in the months of March and April we faced a 30 percent increase in fuel costs coupled with a decrease in passenger load factors," Bricknell said.

"Throughout this period, we continued to work towards securing investment by a black empowerment consortium, which unfortunately has not come to fruition."
The news came after thousands of Nationwide passengers were stranded at OR Tambo airport.

No official reason was given. But a pilot working at the airline said he and his colleagues have been told that all operations at the airline had ceased.

In March its staff were forced to take a nine-day grounding as leave or pay up.

And angry cabin crew said at the time that they objected to the scheme, under which some staff who have resigned have had their salaries docked by thousands of rands, have fallen on deaf ears.

Keywords:  south_africa travel