UK. Exeter-based airline Flybe has gone into administration, compromising thousands of travellers’ journeys and jeopardising 2,000 jobs.
In an announcement on its website yesterday, Flybe said: “All flights have been grounded and the UK business has ceased trading with immediate effect.”
In a message to customers, the airline said: “If you are due to fly with Flybe, please DO NOT TRAVEL TO THE AIRPORT unless you have arranged an alternative flight with another airline. Please note that Flybe is unfortunately not able to arrange alternative flights for passengers.”
Flybe had been in financial difficulties since last year before being saved through a buyout by a consortium that included Virgin Atlantic. Reports said that it narrowly avoided collapse in January. A company insider told the BBC that the impact of the coronavirus on the travel industry had “made a bad situation much worse”.
The BBC quoted Flybe Chief Executive Mark Anderson saying in a letter to staff: “Despite every effort, we now have no alternative – having failed to find a feasible solution to allow us to keep trading.”
A spokesperson for AGS Airports, which owns and manages Aberdeen, Glasgow and Southampton airports, said: “The loss of Flybe is a devasting blow for the airline’s employees and the tens of thousands of passengers who relied on its routes. It, unfortunately, brings into stark focus the fragility of the UK’s domestic connectivity. Earlier this year the UK Government committed to levelling up all regions of the UK by conducting a review of regional connectivity. It’s vital this work is progressed as a matter of urgency and reforming Air Passenger Duty (APD) is part of that review. We are already speaking to other airlines about backfilling the routes operated by Flybe for which there is clear demand.”
Flybe carried 8 million passengers a year between 56 airports in the UK and Europe with over 210 routes across 15 countries. Its two hubs were Birmingham and Manchester airports, while its various codeshares allowed connections to long-haul flights from airports such as London Heathrow, Paris CDG, Dublin and Amsterdam Schiphol.
