EUJET, the low-cost airline based at Kent International Airport until it was grounded in July by cashflow problems, has failed to find a financial saviour and is now in liquidation.

Hopes of a last-minute rescue package were dashed when a potential investor pulled out in the past few days.

This killed off any chance of reviving Shannon-based EUjet and the airline has gone into liquidation with estimated debts of around £30 million.

Some 2,000 customers, many in Kent, are owed around half a million pounds between them.

The collapse of EUjet on July 25 cost 200 jobs, most of them in Kent, and stranded thousands of passengers across Europe.

Staff have yet to be paid, although most passengers who had made bookings but not taken their flight are said to have had refunds.

Under Irish law, EUjet had gone into examinership for 70 days to give officials time to find a buyer. John McStay, based in Dublin, was appointed examiner.

Just days before the 70 days expired, there had been optimistic noises from Mr McStay’s office. He had even contemplated applying for a 20-day extension to allow talks to proceed.

But in the end, Mr McStay failed to find enough finance to keep the company afloat. He had no alternative but to go to court and seek a formal winding-up of the company.

A spokesman for Mr McStay’s office said they had done all they could and it was a disappointing outcome.

Although EUjet carried more than 300,000 passengers out of Manston to more than 20 destinations, it needed at least double that number to succeed.

Kent County Council controversially injected £100,000 into the project to help establish Kent as a good base for scheduled flights.

But EUjet’s fortunes were bound up with PlaneStation, a mainly property company that owned both Kent International and the airline.

When its bank suddenly pulled the plug on further financing, following a failed deal to sell Kent International Business Park, PlaneStation collapsed, taking EUjet with it.

EUjet did not have enough time to find an investor and grounded its aircraft.

Infratil, a New Zealand investment company, bought Kent International Airport for £17 million and held talks with passenger airlines about restoring at least some of the services once provided by EUjet.