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. ”
‘Absolutely gutted’
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.”
Jessica, Abby and Robyn all work for a recruitment agency and were due to return to Jersey via Exeter Airport after a business trip.
They described the airport as a “ghost town” on arrival and said that they would need to find a new route home.
Abby said: “I use Flybe maybe once a month, and not having it now will be such a nightmare.”
The group said that other airlines such as EasyJet or British Airways did operate flights from Jersey, but they typically only flew into larger airports such as London Gatwick.
Blue Islands has said it is operating a flight to Jersey from Exeter on Thursday afternoon as a gesture of goodwill.
‘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.”
