Swissair investigation ordered

Administrator Karl Wüthrich has ordered an investigation into responsibility at Swissair Keystone Archive

The court-appointed administrator of the Swissair Group, Karl Wüthrich, said on Friday an investigation would examine responsibility for the collapse of the group last October.

A statement to creditors and the media on Friday said that by agreement with the government and the canton of Zurich, the administrator had commissioned the consultancy firm, Ernst and Young, to carry out the investigation.

An important focus of the investigation will be analysis of what is known as the “hunter strategy” by which the Swissair Group acquired stakes in other airlines, mainly loss-making concerns in Europe.

Other subjects under scrutiny include information given to the annual shareholders’ meeting of 2001 by the board of directors, the annual accounts for 1999 and 2000, corporate governance, payment flows in 2001 and the circumstances which led to the suspension of flight operations on October2.

The statement said that in the next few weeks, the administrator and those responsible at Ernst and Young would compile a list of questions and a detailed plan for the investigation.

Ernst and Young consider that they will be able to deliver their report in the summer, it added.

swissinfo with agencies