The demise of Fly Blue Crane is on the cards, industry experts say.

Earlier this month, the airline’s business rescue practitioner, Etienne Naude, said the airline had decided not to operate until the business rescue process had been completed.

He said the decision would allow the airline to restructure its operations, reach critical agreements and fine-tune its schedules. In a statement, he said he had requested an extension from Fly Blue Crane’s creditors on the presentation of the proposed business rescue plan. The plan, Naude said, would be presented in the next few weeks after a few loose ends are “tied up”.  The airline entered business rescue proceedings on November 14, 2016.

However, sources on industry forum, AvCom, have reported that most of Fly Blue Crane’s contracts for staff have not been renewed. “Airport staff have been instructed to remain at home and wait for the airline to contact them. Only supervisory staff are reporting for duty,” one aviation specialist said.

Fly Blue Crane’s Iata licence has also been suspended with immediate effect, and travel agents have been advised to settle all outstanding billings, including pending sales and refund claims directly with the airline.

A spokesperson for Iatatold Tourism Update the suspension of the airline from BSP was standard industry practice when a carrier suspended its scheduled operations.

But travel consultants say Fly Blue Crane will battle to regain consumer confidence after it suspended its services.

A Kimberley Flight Centre consultant told Tourism Update that, even before the airline suspended its services, clients preferred to book SAA and SA Express. “Clients were often not advised of delays or cancellations, arriving at the airport to find their flight would not be departing or departing later than scheduled,” she said.

Corporate travellers to Kimberley report that flights have been quite empty for some time. Ros Crossingham, a regular business traveller to Kimberley who works in the diamond industry, told Tourism Update she flew Fly Blue Crane twice and enjoyed the experience. However, she added: “The next time I wanted to book the airline, it wasn’t flying any more. The staff were very nice, but the flights were quite empty.”

Other industry experts have questioned the decision to temporarily ground the airline. One business rescue practitioner, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said cancelling Fly Blue Crane’s flights “took away the lifeblood of the company” as clients would not be able to book flights, which in turn could impact the success of the company in the future.