Debonair was a Britishairline headquartered at London Luton Airport offering flights to and from Spain, France, Germany and Italy. It ceased operations in October 1999 due to financial difficulties.[3]
It floated shares on the Easdaq in September 1997 and raised $41.9m.[8] By mid-1998, the airline was on a heavy cost-cutting strategy which was beginning to slow the losses compared with the year prior.[9] Although at the same time, Debonair sought to introduce special services for its frequent flyer programme including fast track boarding and inclusive meals onboard and on some routes its 'ABC - Affordable Business Class' product.[10][11] Debonair appealed to business travellers, who made up 58 percent of its passengers by 1998.[12] In late 1998, Debonair entered a working relationship with Lufthansa, leasing five aircraft for their CityLine operations from Munich. Whilst the aircraft were in Lufthansa colours, the flights were operated by Debonair staff.[13] Debonair also entered a similar agreement with Swissair who were launching their Express brand to operate a BAE 146 on their behalf from Zurich to Venice and Bologna.[14] Debonair also maintained a codeshare agreement with AB Airlines, which resulted in the lease of a Boeing 737-300 from January 1999 remaining in service until Debonair's operations ended.[15]
On 1 October 1999 the airline's shares were suspended, and the following day the operations of Debonair were grounded following a court ruling to appoint Deloitte as administrators.[16][17][18][19] At the time of closure, the airline had just embarked on a new national advertising campaign, which was pulled from the media at the last minute. However, some advertising made it onto London Underground trains.[20] Following the closure of Debonair, founder Mancassola was critical of British Airways subsidiary Go as a cause for the airlines demise.[21]
Fleet
At the time of closure, the Debonair fleet consisted of the following aircraft:
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