Swiss courts Friday granted Swissair protection from creditors as it sought to restructure following a two-day shutdown this week.
The protection, a step short of bankruptcy under Swiss law, was approved for an initial two months by the district courts of Zurich and Buelach.
Swissair filed for protection from its creditors Tuesday after the air travel chaos that followed the terrorist attacks on the US overwhelmed the already troubled airline.
The airline, which left tens of thousands of passengers stranded during a sudden shutdown Tuesday and Wednesday, was able to resume partial service Thursday after being promised a SF450 million (US$281 million) bridging loan from the Swiss government.
Protection from creditors is part of a complicated overhaul under which the regional airline Crossair -- a healthy part of the Swissair Group -- will take over the national flag carrier.
The courts approved Swissair's request that a single lawyer be named estate administrator and rejected the request by Belgium's Sabena for several estate administrators. Sabena can appeal the decision to the Zurich High Court.
Swissair, which owns 49.5 of the Belgian carrier, said Monday it was unable to make a promised SF200 million (US$124 million) payment to Sabena.
Swiss Finance Minister Kaspar Villiger said Friday that the government had paid Swissair the first SF50 million (US$30.9 million) of the bridging loan and that most of the rest would follow quickly.
The airline said it and Crossair were flying about half of the Swissair schedule of flights Friday.
Swissair said it would fly only about half of its schedule through the weekend in part because its funds were still limited and because it lacked complete protection from creditors in some countries.
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