Vilnius - Lithuania's national carrier, FlyLAL-Lithuanian Airlines, had its operating certificate revoked Friday over fears that its financial troubles could affect flight safety.

As a result of the move, which was announced by the Lithuanian Civil Aviation Administration (LCAA), all FlyLAL-Lithuanian Airlines flights will be grounded indefinitely from Saturday.

"The certificate has been suspended due to the poor financial condition of FlyLAL," said Kestutis Auryla of the LCAA.

"There has been no official word yet, but as we understand it there will be no flights," a FlyLAL employee told Deutsche Presse- Agentur dpa on Friday.

On January 7, the airline's owners agreed to sell it to industrial holding company SCH Swiss Capital Holding in a deal that was due to be completed by January 23.

It is unclear if the deal will be affected by the decision to ground FlyLAL-Lithuanian Airlines' fleet of planes.

On Friday hundreds of passengers intending to take flights over the weekend were being directed to the airline's website but it contained no information about alternative arrangements, raising the possibility that they will be left stranded. dpa