Due to hundreds of flight cancellations in Bern, Switzerland, the Austrian business aviation startup, JetClass, has launched an on-demand service through a smart-matching online platform.

Taking thousands of passengers by surprise, the bankruptcy of Swiss airline, SkyWork (announced through a press release Wednesday evening) has left passengers stranded and looking for alternative means of travel. According to a statement released by the Federal Office of Civil Aviation, around 11,000 passengers are affected, who must now go through the process of claiming ticket refunds. Unfortunately, none of the 22 routes previously operated by SkyWork are serviced by other airlines.

Within 24 hours of SkyWork’s service discontinuation announcement, JetClass launched a Bern-specific on-demand service that utilises the company’s software to match the stranded passengers with the next available scheduled business jet flight.

“Events like this are painful for every party involved”

“Events like this are painful for every party involved,” said Wagas Ali, the CEO and co-founder of JetClass. “We offer our deepest condolences to colleagues and everyone else affected by the bankruptcy, and we can only hope that our efforts will help alleviate at least some of the stress which has fallen upon the shoulders of the passengers.”

For passengers who are in need of flights to and from Bern, JetClass has created a page dedicated for collecting the necessary information on the connections affected the most. The smart-matching platform will help the passengers find the next available departure for their convenience.

The matched passengers who sign up on this page and book with JetClass will fly on scheduled chartered business jet flights at a rate of EUR 390 (USD 452) to EUR 690 (USD 800) per seat. The first flight (to Munich) is scheduled to lift off on Tuesday 4 September 2018 — a week from the operations’ announcement.