THE UK regional carrier Flybe has entered bankruptcy administration, after a plunge in travel demand, making the struggling carrier the industry's first big casualty of the coronavirus outbreak.
Flybe connects all corners of the UK with major European destinations.
The grounding of the airline has also put around 2,400 jobs at risk, reports said.
"Flybe entered Administration on March 5, 2020 and Alan Hudson, Joanne Robinson, Lucy Winterborne and Simon Edel of EY have been appointed as Joint Administrators. All flights have been grounded and the UK business has ceased trading with immediate effect," the airline said on Thursday (5).
— Flybe ✈ (@flybe) March 5, 2020
Flybe's collapse also causes a problem for Prime Minister Boris Johnson who had promised to "level up" Britain by investing in regional transport links.
The operator, described as the largest independent regional airline in Europe, carried around 8 million passengers a year between 81 airports and was owned by a consortium of Virgin Atlantic, Stobart Group and Cyrus Capital.
Flybe's network of routes, served by its 68 aircraft, includes more than half of the UK domestic flights outside London.
There are concerns that, without Flybe, some regional airports like Exeter, Birmingham and Southampton will have much poorer connections within Britain and to Europe.
Flybe is the first major airline to go out of business since the emergence of coronavirus, which surfaced in China last year and has since claimed around 3,200 lives.
Flybe was already in financial trouble and was rescued in mid-January when shareholders agreed to invest more money alongside government support that was due to include a potential loan and a review of local flight taxes.
Johnson said in January that Flybe was important for Britain's transport links and that the government would do what it could to help the carrier.
"Flybe's financial difficulties were longstanding and well documented and pre-date the outbreak of COVID-19," the government said in a statement.
The Stobart and Virgin Atlantic said that the outbreak of coronavirus meant the consortium could no longer commit to financial support.
Zia Yusuf
Sunak with Boris Johnson
Sunak with Suella Braverman