A statement on the airline’s website posted in the early hours of Saturday morning (28 January) confirmed it had ceased trading and Interpath Advisory had been appointed as administrators.

Headquartered in Birmingham, Flybe Ltd employed around 320 people across four main sites - Belfast City, Birmingham and Exeter airports and its Birmingham head office - and operated 21 routes to 17 destinations across the UK and Europe using a fleet of leased Q400 aircraft.

The airline was awarded its Air Operating Certificate in 2021, with operations starting in April 2022 – as the company relaunched following the collapse of the original Flybe in March 2020.

Passengers due to fly with Flybe in the next 24-48 hours are advised not to travel to the airport, unless they have booked alternative arrangements.

’Enormous efforts’

David Pike, managing director at Interpath Advisory and joint administrator, said: "The ‘new’ Flybe was received warmly by the industry and public alike when it launched last year, so this will be devastating news for all those who have supported the company since then, including employees, passengers, funders and the wider aviation industry. I particularly feel for the employees who have put so much energy into making Flybe a success since its relaunch."

Pike said the airline had had to “withstand a number of shocks since its relaunch”, including the late delivery of 17 aircraft “which has severely compromised both the airline’s capacity and its ability to remain competitive”. “This has driven significant financial losses and an associated cash drain for the business," he continued.

“Over the past few months, enormous efforts have been undertaken by the directors and key stakeholders to safeguard the future of the business, including undertaking a process to seek new investors and/or owners. Unfortunately, with the aviation sector still adjusting to the ‘new normal’ following the pandemic, it appears the time was not right for this process to reach a successful conclusion," said Pike.

“Having ultimately exhausted its available capital base, and with no alternative options available, the directors have taken the difficult decision to place the company into administration."

Paul Smith, consumer director at the CAA, said: "It is always sad to see an airline enter administration and we know that Flybe’s decision to stop trading will be distressing for all of its employees and customers."

Matthew Hall, chief executive of Belfast City, where Flybe operated 10 flights, added: "First and foremost, our thoughts are with Flybe employees and passengers affected by this disappointing and unexpected news", stressing too how the vast majority of the airline’s routes at the airport are served by other carriers.

The airline that eventually became known as Flybe dates to the late-1970s and was formed out of a series of mergers. The brand itself came into being in the early-2000s and grew to be Europe’s largest independent regional airline, headquartered at Exeter airport.

Flybe was sold to Virgin Atlantic-led consortium Connect Airways in 2019, with backing from US hedge fund Cyrus Capital and in partnership with Stobart Group.

Virgin’s vision was to rebrand the airline Virgin Connect to provide regional feed for its long-haul network, drawing comparisons with its previous attempt at setting up a feed carrier, Little Red.

However, just over a year after the airline was bought up by Connect Airways, Flybe collapsed following the onset of Covid-19, which it said compounded its existing financial struggles.

The brand, though, was revived a year later in April 2021 and eventually took off under new ownership in April 2022, this time based out of Birmingham airport.

At the time, TTG wrote that while the carrier’s 23 routes marked a tentative return to the UK aviation market, rival carriers such as Loganair had already filled in many of the gaps left by its pre-pandemic collapse while the "new" Flybe was being set up.