Creditors of SmartLynx Unite Under the Auspices of BLACKLIST.AERO

A group of creditors of SIA SMARTLYNX AIRLINES has united to defend their interests vis-à-vis AVIA SOLUTIONS GROUP. The creditors have also formally authorized the administration of the Global Aviation Register of Defaulter Companies BLACKLIST.AERO to act as the coordinator of their joint actions.

First and foremost, the creditors intend to call on the management of Avia Solutions Group to assume both moral and financial responsibility for bringing SIA SmartLynx Airlines to a state of insolvency. This also concerns the so-called “sale” of the airline to a fund named Stichting Break Point Distressed Assets Management, which appears to have been created specifically for transactions involving illiquid assets owned by ASG.

The creditors insist that the sale of SmartLynx Airlines and the events that followed give rise to well-founded suspicions of collusion between the former and the new owners, aimed at concealing potential misconduct by the management of Avia Solutions Group in the course of managing its subsidiary. The criminal investigation opened by the Latvian police only reinforces these suspicions.

The idea of creating a Creditors’ Group initially emerged independently among several creditors, who separately approached BLACKLIST.AERO with the same question: how could the administration of the Register assist them in the current situation? In response, the BLACKLIST.AERO team invited all known creditors to a joint online meeting. During this meeting, a plan of legal, para-legal, and public actions was proposed, aimed at helping to resolve the situation.

For the BLACKLIST.AERO team, this initiative is a fully volunteer-based project. The Register’s administration does not intend to charge creditors any success fees. Our primary motivation is to prevent the future proliferation of schemes that are highly questionable from both a professional and legal standpoint—schemes that other defaulting companies could later adopt as a “business model,” thereby significantly worsening payment discipline across the aviation industry.

For nearly four years, the BLACKLIST.AERO team has been fighting systemic defaulters and outright fraudsters in the aviation market. When we became witnesses to such an egregious case of non-payment—where a certain maneuver is clearly visible, leaving companies without the money they have legitimately earned—we could not remain on the sidelines.

Another important motivation is the desire to demonstrate to the global aviation community that, in certain principled cases, market participants are capable of setting aside competition and differences and acting in a coordinated manner to achieve a common goal. The idea of self-regulation within the aviation market has always been, and remains, an absolute imperative for us.

At present, the Creditors’ Group includes 27 companies from 16 countries, and the number of participants continues to grow. In this regard, the administration of BLACKLIST.AERO addresses other creditors: if, for any technical reasons, you did not receive notifications about the creditors’ meeting, did not receive the Action Plan developed during the meeting, and wish to join our collective efforts, please submit a request from your corporate email address to register@blacklist.aero for processing.

Applications from creditors of SmartLynx Airlines will be accepted until 23 December 2025.