UK airline Flybe has gone into administration, putting 2,000 jobs at risk, after a bid for fresh financial support failed.
The carrier said the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on demand for air travel was partly to blame for its collapse.
Its website now advises customers to “not travel to the airport” unless they have arranged an alternative flight.
Exeter-based Flybe narrowly avoided going bust in January.
In a letter to the airline’s staff, chief executive Mark Anderson said: “Despite every effort, we now have no alternative – having failed to find a feasible solution to allow us to keep trading.
“I am very sorry that we have not been able to secure the funding needed to continue to deliver our turnaround,” he added.
In response to the collapse, the UK government said it was ready to help Flybe’s workers find new jobs and will work with other airlines to replace services: “We are working closely with industry to minimise any disruption to routes operated by Flybe, including by looking urgently at how routes not already covered by other airlines can be re-established by the industry. ”
David Manners arrived at Exeter Airport this morning to find his Flybe flight to Paris had been cancelled.
The trip had been planned as a surprise Christmas present for his wife and he said they were “absolutely gutted”.
Mr Manners, who lives in Lyme Regis, said Flybe’s collapse would also be bad for the area.
“We use this airport quite a lot because it’s so convenient,” he said.
“We know some of the staff very well… I feel for them.”
‘Over-ambitious expansion’
Flybe, which served destinations from the Channel Islands to Aberdeen, had been hoping for a £100m lifeline and changes to Air Passenger Duty taxes.
The carrier ran into difficulties last year and was bought by a consortium which includes Virgin Atlantic.
In January, the new owners said they would pump £30m into the business to keep it afloat, but appealed to the government for additional support.
Virgin Atlantic said it was “deeply disappointed” after Flybe went into administration. A spokesperson said that the consortium had invested more than £135m in keeping the airline flying for an extra year.
Air transport expert John Strickland said the regional market was extremely challenging for any airline, but that Flybe had made matters worse some years ago through over-ambitious expansion.
“It’s not surprising that Flybe has faced significant financial difficulties. The airline has struggled for a number of years, it’s really too big for what it’s trying to do,” he said.
Although the airline is small compared to the likes of British Airways, Ryanair or EasyJet, he said the loss of the operator for the UK’s regions would be “disastrous”.
“It’s small in the scale of the UK market as a whole, but if you’re flying out of Exeter, Newquay or specifically Southampton it really is one of the only airline choices, indeed in Southampton it accounts for about 95% of the activity at that airport, so a number of regional groups will risk not being served.”
While its financial problems were already apparent, a company insider told the BBC the impact of the coronavirus on the travel industry had “made a bad situation much worse”.
Virgin said this week its chief executive will take a 20% pay cut for four months, and the airline is freezing recruitment and offering employees unpaid leave as the coronavirus saps demand for air travel.
Bookings were 40% lower than a year ago, Virgin added.
Following last December’s general election, Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledged to “level up” the UK’s regions, after the Conservatives won seats in previous Labour strongholds.
In January Mr Johnson appeared ready to intervene to prop up the airline, considered a vital transport link to many parts of the country.
The Labour Party said the demise of Flybe would cause anxiety in many regions of the UK.
Shadow transport secretary Andy Macdonald said the airline had provided “critical connectivity for many locations” and its collapse would be “disastrous news for passengers and employees alike.”
“The government has to answer how those vital links will be maintained following Flybe’s collapse. Communities will be concerned about what this will mean for their local economies and the Secretary of State has to come up with answers to these questions as a matter of urgency,” he said.
Brian Strutton, general secretary of the pilots’ union Balpa, said that while pilots, cabin crew and ground staff had done their jobs “brilliantly”, government had “connived to walk away” from the problem.
Passengers’ rights
Rory Boland, travel editor for consumer group Which? said Flybe’s passengers were unlikely to have Atol protection, which would mean they would not be automatically flown home, as they would not have booked their flights as part of a package.
“Many popular travel insurance policies do not have cover for airlines going into administration, so many travellers may find they are not covered,” Mr Boland said.
However some customers would be covered by their credit or debit cards. Customers whose flight was with a codeshare partner can claim the cost of their flight through that airline, he added.
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