FlyOlympic (Stockholm Arlanda) filed for bankruptcy on July 29 after talks with creditors collapsed. In a statement, the Swedish virtual carrier blamed the poor performance of its new Asmara and Mogadishu services for its financial woes.

"The new operation to Africa performed dramatically below all reasonable expectations, and the losses sustained were too great for a company of our size to survive. We had discussed with several investment groups over the last 10 days in a bid to save the company but unfortunately time ran out," it said.

FlyOlympic launched the flights to the Horn of Africa from London Gatwick and Stockholm Arlanda using Athens as a stopover in conjunction with Skygreece Airlines (Athens) late last month. It had hoped to tap into the Somali and Eritrean diaspora market.