Hong Kong - The Hong Kong budget airline Oasis, which collapsed in April, has lost the 13 route licenses it held with the Air Transport Licensing Authority. In a statement issued Friday, the authority said the licenses had lapsed under conditions that regulate what should be done if an airline goes into liquidation. It said the airline had been informed.
The route licenses includes ones between Hong Kong and London's Gatwick Airport and Hong Kong and Vancouver - the two routes being operated when the airline went into voluntary liquidation April 9.
Others included routes planned for the future between Hong Kong and places such as New York, Las Vegas, San Fancisco, Sydney, Melbourne and several European and Asian cities.
The airline's collapse left 700 staff without
jobs and more than 30,000 passengers holding
tickets valued at 300 million Hong Kong dollars (38.5 million US dollars).
Initially, airlines bosses said they were "very confident" someone would come forward to take over the airline and save the jobs of the staff.
However, the airline's huge losses and debts to creditors along with the uncertain industry outlook because of high fuel prices appeared to have put off any potential saviours.
Oasis caused a sensation in Hong Kong's aviation industry when it began operating two
Boeing 747 planes in October 2006, flying between Hong Kong and London with one-way fares for as little as 128 US dollars.
Within a year, it had five 747s in operation and boasted that in its first year it flew 250,000 passengers between London and Hong Kong. It began flights to Vancouver in June.
