Flybe flounders under coronavirus fever

Wednesday 04 March 2020

Flybe might not be around come April, as the airline is once again running out of cash… this time thanks to coronavirus.

The airline says it has been hit by a massive drop in flight bookings since the outbreak of the Covid-19 virus, which has reportedly hit its already struggling finances hard.

As a result, it requested a £100million loan from the UK government, but that is not looking likely, leaving the business reliant on a reduction to air passenger duty being announced in next week's parliamentary budget. 

Flybe offers flights from the Channel Islands to a number of mainland destinations, including ‘lifeline’ routes from Jersey to Southampton and Exeter.

Pictured: Flybe is a franchise partner of Channel Islands-based Blue Islands.

It is also a franchise partner of Blue Islands, whose business could be affected by Flybe's financial turbulence.

Owners of the airline, whose history dates back to the foundation of British European in Jersey, has described Flybe’s situation as "urgent" and said it will need support in the coming days to survive.

If it doesn’t arrive, Flybe will have to go into administration, which could mean the immediate cessation of its operations.

Even if the UK government, which previously indicated intentions to cut duty to help the floundering airline, steps in to help, it remains unclear whether this will be enough to mitigate the impact of the spread of coronavirus on the airline’s bookings.

Excited to announce that in 2020 we will be joining the #VirginFamily as Virgin Connect, your new go-to name in regional flying

Find out more at https://t.co/gNMNGNUxND pic.twitter.com/cFUDZ2LMS6

— Flybe (@flybe) October 15, 2019

While there are no cases of the virus in the Channel Islands yet, it has sprung up all over Europe, with over 50 cases in the UK.

This has resulted in people dropping travel plans to stay at home, which has hit the travel industry internationally.

The bookings drop is the latest in a series of financial struggles for the airline, which was rescued by a Virgin-led consortium pledging to invest heavily in the airline as it rebranded it to ‘Connect Airways’.