There is some good news today for the environment. Another airline has closed down, and if this goes on for another while, the pollution of the atmosphere might actually come down significantly over Ireland.
However, what is good news for environmentalists is rather bad news for the tourist industry.
Seventy employees of Futura Gael, the Irish division of charter airline Futura International Airways, based in Mallorca, have been temporarily laid off after the company decided to seek bankruptcy protection in a Spanish court. A further twenty employees have been put on notice.
The move, which has been blamed on rising oil prices, has thrown the travel plans of thousands of Irish holiday makers into doubt. (This again is good news for the environment.)
The airline, which operated charter flights to the Mediterranean and Eastern Europe, says it has suspended all flight operations, but cannot say for how long.
Futura International Airways was founded in 1989 by Ireland's main airline Aer Lingus, but they sold off their majority stake in 2002 and its last 20% in October of last year.
The Irish-based subsidiary Futura Gael employs 90 people at its Dublin offices and on its aircraft.
The Emerald Islander
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