British airline Flybe collapses for a second time

Flybe, once Europe's largest independent regional airline, canceled all flights on Saturday. A new owner failed to save the carrier, which was already struggling when the pandemic hit.

British carrier Flybe, once the largest airline regional independent Europe, canceled all flights on Saturday after filing a second bankruptcy petition, marking what could be the final chapter for the chronically struggling business.

"We are sad to report that Flybe has been placed into administration," the company said in a statement posted to its website in the early hours of Saturday morning. "Flybe has now ceased operations. All Flybe flights to and from the UK are canceled and will not be rescheduled."

The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment , but administrators were told The British High Court is due to take over the company, the statement said.

The Department for Transport, which oversees UK aviation policy, also did not immediately respond.

Flybe, which once dominated the UK domestic flight market, had only restarted in April 2022 after becoming one of the first casualties in scale of the coronavirus outbreak. Like much of the global aviation industry, the airline was hit hard when travel plummeted and filed for bankruptcy in March 2020 with the loss of 2,400 jobs.

The airline was rescued last year by Thyme Opco, a company linked to US hedge fund Cyrus Capital.

But the sudden news on Saturday that Flybe had folded again left passengers stranded, as the airline has made it clear that he would not be able to arrange alternative flights. Around 2,500 passengers were due to fly with the airline on Saturday, and around 75,000 passengers in total have now had their flights cancelled, according to figures confirmed by the U.K. Civil Aviation Authority, the country's civil aviation regulator. The authority has published on its website a list of other airlines offering special fares to Flybe customers.

"It is always sad to see an airline go into administration and we know that Flybe's decision to halt trade will be painful for all of its employees and customers,” Paul Smith, the authority's consumer director, said in a statement.

By international standards, Britain has a low use of commercial domestic flights. In April, the British government is set to introduce long-awaited tax reductions for national air carriers with the aim of improving national connectivity. The move, which has been welcomed by the industry, is part of the government's 'leveling up' program - a policy that aims to even out disparities between northern economic England uely disadvantaged and its more prosperous south.

But the announcement of the tax cut in 2021, a few days before the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, had been criticized at the time by environmental groups. Some are now calling on Britain to enact a nationwide ban on short-haul flights similar to the one France imposed last year. In April, France became the first country to ban flights between cities connected by a train journey of less than 2.5 hours.

Earlier this month here, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of La Bretagne also