Waves grounded for good

Friday 14 September 2018

An airline that once branded itself as the new ‘Uber of the sky’ for the Channel Islands is waving goodbye.

In a shock announcement on Friday afternoon, founder Nick Magliocchetti revealed that Waves' parent company would be going into voluntary liquidation "with a heavy heart" amid a turbulent few months for the organisation.

After suspending their service due to money troubles and failing to relaunch nearly two weeks later than originally proposed this week, Express learned that the airline’s plane had gone up for sale in Florida. 

The airline had said that the single-engine aircraft was only out of action due to maintenance. No word was offered on the future of the airline until this afternoon’s statement.

Pictured: Founder Nick Magliocchetti said he did not wish to "point fingers and lay blame" about the downfall of the year-old airline.

In it, Waves said that it felt backed into the decision following “pressure” from Royal Court and Petty Debts Court judgements against it.

However, Mr Magliocchetti said that this was not a time to "point fingers and lay blame."

"...This is a time to reflect on the achievements of the team - the supporters, the stakeholders and the sheer amount of work done and the barriers broken to make this company a reality. The credit must go to the guys and girls who worked endlessly to bring this to fruition," he commented.

“It is with a heavy heart that we put Waves Technologies into voluntary liquidation. We hope that if nothing else, the traveling public have seen that there is an alternative. Competition is healthy and that choice and customer service is something that should not be taken for granted but should be an everyday standard for the local travelling community.”

The latest on Waves' financial situation is that it owes just under £20,000 in tax. At the end of July, Guernsey's Royal Court gave the company two weeks to pay the outstanding bills, but Mr Magliochetti at the time said if the company could afford it, it already would have been paid.

He said in court that investor confidence in Waves was poor and he was currently in the process of raising funds. He did not comment as to how this process has gone when contacted by Express last week.

Before this, following Waves' original cancellation announcement, it was revealed Waves never actually received a £510,000 sum it had raised through online crowdfunding platform Seedrs. 

The money raised via an online investment platform was eventually returned to the investors after the crowding funding company's due diligence checks were voided by a Judicial Review into Waves' business model.

Despite suspending bookings earlier this year, Waves said that some passengers will still due to fly, and should contact them to organise alternative travel.

Carter Backer Winter, CBW Guernsey and their agents SIA Group have been appointed as joint liquidators and said to be “in talks” with potential buyers for the aviation company behind the airline’s operation.

The airline declined to answer questions or offer any further comments on the situation.

A timeline of Waves' life:

• January 2017 - Waves was launched, branding itself as the Channel Islands' local air taxi provider 
• September 2017 - Gained its Air Operators Certificate (AOC)
• October 2017 -  Flew its first commercial flight
• November 2017 - Was the subject of a Judicial Review applied for by Blue Islands against the Guernsey Transport Licencing Authority (TLA)
• December 2017 - Suspended single seat operations and applied for route licences between Guernsey and Jersey and Guernsey and Alderney 
• March 2018 - Received both route licences from the Guernsey TLA
• April 2018 - Waves' route licence for Alderney was then refused by Alderney Route Licensing
• May 2018 - Its aircraft, 2-CREW, was taken for emergency maintenance, meaning it could not fly for a month
• June 2018 – Waves announced it was suspending all of its operations to reorganise and reassess, but promised it would return in September. It was soon after revealed by Express that the company never received £500k of its seed capital
• September 2018 – The airline failed to relaunch, and on the 14, announced it was liquidating. Now, it is the objective of the liquidator to maintain as much value in the business as possible, and this can be achieved through a trade sale to a serious and good buyer