Flybe, a UK-based budget airline, has filed for administration, a process similar to bankruptcy in the United States. As a result, all Flybe flights have been cancelled and the company has ceased trading.
In a letter from Flybe CEO Mark Anderson to the airline’s staff obtained by the BBC, he blamed falling demand due to the coronavirus outbreak for the decision. “Despite every effort, we now have no alternative – having failed to find a feasible solution to allow us to keep trading.”
Founded in 1979 and based out of Exeter, England, prior to its collapse Flybe carried 8 million passengers per year, operating over 210 routes across 15 countries. The airline operated two main hubs at Birmingham and Manchester, as well as connections to long-haul flights from airports such as London Heathrow, Paris Charles de Gaulle, Dublin and Amsterdam via codeshare agreements.
Flybe and the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) are advising customers not to travel through the airport in case they have confirmed travel arrangements. For flights operated by Flybe franchise partners – Stobart Air, Eastern Airways and Blue Islands – passengers should make contact with that airline to confirm their travel arrangements. Additionally, travelers booked on international flights should contact the codeshare partner operating it to confirm their travel arrangements. Flybe’s codeshare partners are:
- Aer Lingus
- Air France
- Air India
- Alitalia
- British Airways
- Cathay Pacific
- Emirates
- Etihad Airways
- Finnair
- Loganair
- Singapore Airlines
- United Airlines
- Virgin Atlantic
Additionally, the following airlines are offering Flybe passengers special fares:
- Blue Islands
- easyJet
- British Airways
- Ryanair
All train operators in Britain have also agreed to provide free travel to Flybe customers and staff unable to travel over the next week; they will need to show proof of employment or planned journey (boarding card or flight information) to station staff.
Good to know: The CAA says that it will not be operating repatriation flights for customers stranded by the collapse, as it did with the collapse of Thomas Cook last year.
“The government has not commissioned the CAA to organise any repatriation flights as there is capacity in the market for people to travel via alternative airlines, rail and coach operations,” the organization explained.
According to the latest analysis from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the financial impact of the coronavirus outbreak could amount to 2020 global revenue losses for passenger business of between $63 billion and $113 billion, depending on the ultimate extent of the spread of the illness. Airline share prices have fallen nearly 25 percent since the outbreak began, the IATA said, 21 percentage points greater than the decline that occurred at a similar point during the SARS outbreak of 2003.
Similarly, a new study from aviation analytics firm ForwardKeys has found that flight bookings to Europe from international source markets dropped sharply over the final week of February (February 23 – 29). During that week, the overall number of new flight bookings to Europe fell by 79 percent.
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