Premier League Football Clubs keep boots on the ground as Jota Aviation ceases business

Aviation news this week reports that Jota Aviation has an administration on the cards - big news for the premier league clubs (understood to include Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool and Manchester United) who rely on its services to jet them between their all important games.  

Jota's administration isn't noted on Companies House or the public Court records just yet but they have cancelled all flights, suspended all services and offered it's three freight aircraft up for sale - all certainly indicative of an intention to cease trading.

The recent struggles of the aviation industry have been no secret - some huge names in the industry have faced insolvency proceedings, from Virgin Atlantic through to Flybe.  Doubtless the pandemic was a huge factor, but despite matters now returning to some level of normality, the airlines continue to grapple with additional hurdles such as calls from MPs to ensure airlines offer an automatic refund to passengers when a flight is cancelled and difficulties finding personnel to staff flights (Easyjet and JetBlue have reported staffing problems and British Airways are offering a "Golden Hello" bonus to try and tempt new recruits). 

The reason for Jota's financial difficulties is unknown at this stage: they have not issued any statement about the suspension of their operations and have deleted all social media accounts.  Last year, JOTA were quoted as citing Brexit as a cause for a number of issues which made flying cargo without a pre-planned schedule within the EU very difficult as permits to fly often take days to appear.  It is speculated that this, together with the effects of the pandemic, may have ultimately caused the business to fail.

It certainly seems that for the time being at least, our high flying football teams will need to source an alternative means of travel.