The management of the company owned by British businessman Clifford Da Cunha made the decision as it met today in Maribor, saying that it had extreme difficulties with leasing airplanes for the route.

Golden Air was scheduled to fly to London Stansted via Vienna three times a week, with return tickets set at EUR 150 and the baggage allowance at 25 kilos.

In the first week, the start-up company cancelled the flights due to poor ticket sales, while last week Golden Air was left without a plane at the eleventh hour due to technical difficulties.

"We are not giving up, but we want to focus all of our efforts on securing everything that is necessary for establishing normal conditions for flights from the Edvard Rusjan Airport," Da Cunha said in a press release.

The 40 passengers who bought tickets last week will be put on other flights bound for London, the company said, adding that considerable funds had been invested in the Golden Air project.

The route was launched on 6 October, just as a new owner for the airport operator, Aerodrom Maribor, is being sought. The operator's sole owner, Prevent Global group, recently announced that the company would be auctioned off at the opening price of EUR 675,000 at the end of October.

Da Cunha said then that it was logical that the Golden Air group was interested in the purchase of the airport operator. However, the airline's principal business first needs to prove viable, he added.

Golden Air hoped to expand its services, introducing new routes to Birmingham, Barcelona and Bergamo, possibly even to India.