Employees bail out Cimber Sterling

After two weeks of intense negotiations, Cimber Sterling airline has been sold in two parts to former owners and the son of the founder of the now-shuttered airline.

114 jobs will be saved as a result of the former leadership team - consisting of Jørgen Nielsen, Alex Dyrgaard and Jacob Krogsgaard - taking over parts of the airline and continuing to run it under its original name, Cimber.

The jobs are saved because the three former employees will continue the wet-lease agreement on the company's fleet of CRJ planes, an agreement that was revealed just after the Cimber bankruptcy notice.

The wet-lease agreement is a rental accord in which an airline leases aircraft, personnel, maintenance and insurance to another airline.

The new Cimber has also initiated negotiations of another wet-lease contract, involving up to three ATR aircraft, an agreement that could potentially save an additional 65 jobs.

The second part of the defunct Cimber Sterling airline, Cimber Air Maintenance Center and Cimber Air Data, which is responsible for the maintenance of aircraft, was purchased by the company Mansvel.

That purchase means that 80 jobs are saved and the maintenance activities will continue under the new name Skyways Technics.

“It has been a race against time, where a signature on the deal was unsure even in the final moments,” the bankruptcy trustees indicated in a press release. “The negotiations have been intense and nerve-racking, especially because of the many employees waiting in uncertainty.”