A sixth airline has gone bust within a month as soaring fuel prices and the credit squeeze threatens to put even more carriers out of business.

South African-based Nationwide, which operated four return flights a week between Gatwick and Johannesburg, said it had stopped flights as its cash-flow had become “critical”.

The last Gatwick flight operated by Nationwide from Gatwick was on Monday night, with the plane only going to Shannon, Ireland rather than Johannesburg.

The collapse follows that of two other long-haul airlines operating out of London airports this month - Oasis from Gatwick to Hong Kong and Eos, which flew to New York from Stansted. Both ran out of money.

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Three US airlines have also gone out of business in April, although not necessarily due to the fuel prices.

But there is little doubt that with the price of a barrel of oil rising sharply, more airlines are facing an uphill struggle to survive.

Two of the three business-only airlines between London and New York have disappeared in the past four months, Eos and rival Maxjet.

The third, Silverjet, announced today that it had reached agreement with a Middle East investor for $100m, a lifeline to the airline. "Following recent material increases in fuel prices and tightening of credit conditions in the airline industry, Silverjet’s working capital has deteriorated and its residual reserves are limited," admitted a statement.

Those ringing the UK number for Nationwide Airlines today were being given a recorded message saying the carrier had applied to the South African courts for “voluntary liquidation”.

Saga Holidays is one of the UK companies which uses Nationwide, both for flights from Gatwick and for internal services in South Africa. A spokesman said 25 customers booked to travel and who had received Nationwide tickets have been rebooked onto other flights. A further 750 booked for future flights will also be reprotected.

The entire airline industry has been battling surging fuel prices, competitive pressures and declining consumer spending, particularly in the US and UK.

"Simply the long standing effect of the credit crunch and the price of oil still continuing to rise means many airlines simply cannot maintain flying operations unless they make drastic price increases," said Paul Mclean, director of International Passenger Protection (IPP).

"Although we predicted several other airlines to come into the same financial difficulties there will sadly be others during this difficult credit crunch and high oil price period.“

TROUBLE IN THE SKIES

April 29: US business-class airline Eos files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and stopped flying from Stansted to New York JFK on Monday. The firm said it had "insufficient cash to continue operations" after failing to win an investment that would have sustained the firm until 2009.

April 9: A low cost airline that advertised flights to Hong Kong for £65 went bust. Oasis Hong Kong Airlines went into voluntary liquidation and cancelled all flights.

April 5: Skybus offered domestic US routes with promises of some $10 fares on every flight. Travellers paid separately for everything from checked baggage to notification of flight delays. It lasted less than a year.

April 3: Another US carrier, ATA Airlines, collapsed after losing a big contract having been burnt seven years ago by accepting a short-term financial bailout in exchange for its crucial Chicago hub.

Mar 31: Aloha Airlines - poor management was blamed for the demise of the the Hawaiian company, with competition from Hawaiian Airlines and a well-financed startup carrier, Go!

December 24, 2007: Maxjet Airlines, which also operated from Stansted to New York, parked its airplanes and filed for bankruptcy.

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