A start up airline which planned to launch services between the UK and Belgium and the Swiss Valais airport of Sion, starting in as fortnight's time, now says they,
"…need to secure at least £3 million to operate this season and at least £1 million by the end of this week, in order to operate a reduced but efficient flight schedule this season."
In a statement issued this afternoon the airline said,
"This morning our key financial backer walked away from the powdair journey for personal reasons."
"...Without funding, we're now facing the situation of needing to postpone the start of our flight schedule for this winter season, which is currently set to commence on 11th December 2017."
The company says they have two options at this point, to delay launching this year or to seek funding from what they describe as, "our army of passionate powdair supporters".
The statement claims that over 5,000 people have booked flights with the company for the coming season but says that if the decision is ultimately to postpone starting powdair this winter, "... those of you who've already booked flights would be guaranteed a full refund."
"Just as the powdair operation begins to snowball, today's setback is both unexpected and potentially disastrous for our airline, booked passengers and resort partners. Operational systems and strategies are already in place, whilst ticket sales are very strong and exceeding expectations. powdair is ready to go, but we now desperately need investment. I'd personally like to hear from anyone interested in owning either a small or large part of our airline," said Sean Pettit, Powdair's Chief Financial Officer.