Camerons and Dibbs act in air carrier's break-up

The collapse of airline Debonair is providing a wealth of work for high-flying law firms.

The budget airline went into administration on 1 October after failing to make a profit in its three-year history.

Stephen Foster, banking partner at CMS Cameron McKenna, is representing the administrator Deloitte & Touche, while the airline's bank, Barclays, has instructed Dibb Lupton Alsop.

Simon Neilson-Clark, an insolvency partner at Dibbs, is leading the team, which includes insolvency partner Stephen Halliday and two assistants, Holly Suenson-Taylor and Seamus Grey.

Commenting on the airline's downfall, Neilson-Clark says: "If you look at Debonair, it was the only one of the budget lines that did not have a wealthy backer.

"Their routes were possibly not the best routes in the world and British Airways' Go won't be quaking in their boots at their demise."

Debonair planes were grounded all over Europe when the administration was announced.

However, Sinclair Roche & Temperley is fighting to get the failed flier's Swiss routes up and running again.

It is understood the firm is representing an aircraft lessor which provides planes to fly the route from Italy and Germany into Zurich, which Debonair ran under a Swiss-air franchise.

That franchise was one of the three sections of Debonair - the other two were a franchise service for Lufthansa and its scheduled own-name service.

David Ralph, a partner in aviation and tax at Sinclair Roche, is leading a team which includes insolvency assistant Alistair Bacon.