The former CEO blames the bankruptcy on insufficient warehouses

Last week, you could read in Made in Limburg that Coastair was declared bankrupt by a court in Liège. The service provider in the air cargo sector was honored a year ago as a Trends Gazellen ambassador in Limburg. Pascal De Maitre, the company's former CEO, is happy to explain what went wrong at her former employer: “It's not politics, but circumstances beyond our control and serious mistakes made by third parties.”

Pascal De Maitre confirms that as an employee of the company she has been lifting weights for many years and has helped make Coastair great. Before she begins a new career chapter (and therefore no longer works for Coastair), she insists the real facts of the bankruptcy have emerged: “First and foremost, our revenues were severely impacted by geopolitical tensions, which resulted in reduced demand for our services.” As a response. “In addition, inflation led to a significant rise in operating costs, especially in energy and personnel. But the most devastating element was our new project, a 10,000 square meter warehouse, which was supposed to be a valuable asset for our customers and our company. Unfortunately, “This turned into a financial nightmare due to serious construction errors, causing us to suffer huge losses.”

“The warehouse suffered from several problems, such as water leaks, gas leaks, and structural faults, all of which seriously hampered our operational capacity. We no longer even have the financial resources to legally claim the client for these catastrophic faults. I can provide a detailed expert report on this topic ( look at the picture).”

Regarding the lack of an external partner, the former director says: “We had serious interest from investors, but as soon as they arrived at the site and saw the condition of the warehouse, they withdrew. This is the scenario I faced in my work.” “23 years is like nothing I’ve ever been in this industry.”

“It is crucial that this story is reported correctly, so that companies committed to their employees and communities are not unfairly harmed,” concludes De Maitre. “In 2022, we won third award for Best Employer in the transportation industry. And the logistics industry. It was not Coastair's bankruptcy is not the result of bad policy, but rather of circumstances beyond our control and serious errors committed by third parties.