Less than a year after Flybe got back on its feet after declaring bankruptcy, the company once again has to turn the key. Now all flights are cancelled.
British regional low-cost carrier Flybe has canceled all its flights for the second time in three years.
The Flybe website states that ” Flybe has now ceased trading and all flights from and to the UK operated by Flybe have been cancelled.”
Flybe is urging affected passengers to contact the UK Civil Aviation Authority as they are unable to arrange alternative flights.
The news about Flybe came early on Saturday morning, when the first flight from Belfast City Airport was due to depart for Newcastle at 07.00. Around 2,500 passengers were scheduled to fly with Flybe on Saturday 28 January. In total, around 75,000 passengers have had their flights cancelled.
In a press release, Flybe states that the company has been called in by bankruptcy auditors.
Flybe has thus been placed under administration less than a year after the company was resurrected from an earlier collapse.
Furthermore, Flybe states in the press release that all flights are now cancelled, including its international routes from Switzerland and the Netherlands. The flights will not be rescheduled.
Passengers who have booked flights through the company are advised not to travel to the airports, unless they have arranged an alternative flight with another airline.
Among other things, Flybe has routes from Belfast, Birmingham and London Heathrow to other British airports and Amsterdam in the Netherlands and Geneva in Switzerland.
According to Flybe, they had tried to return to full capacity, create jobs and establish a better regional route network across the UK.
“Unfortunately, although we have made significant progress in certain areas, there were a number of obstacles along the way that we were unable to jump over,” Flybe writes, among other things, in the press release.
Just a few weeks ago, Flybe launched two new destinations and announced that they would be resuming some of their popular routes. The plan was to fly to 16 airports in the UK, France and the Netherlands during the summer season.
Challenging market
It is still a challenging environment for airlines to operate in. Both new and more established carriers are affected by today’s economy, interest rates and fuel prices, which greatly make it difficult to recover from the pandemic.
Flybe went bankrupt back in March 2020. The British low-cost carrier was thus one of the first airlines to be affected by the corona pandemic.
Operations resumed in April last year, when the company was bought by Thyme Opco, which is affiliated with the American capital fund Cyrus Capital. The company was subsequently renamed Flybe Limited.
When Flybe finally resumed operations last April, it was with the plan to operate 530 flights a week across 23 routes.
“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 its employees and customers,” said Paul Smith, director of the UK Civil Aviation Authority, CAA.
What are your rights when a flight is canceled by a bankrupt airline?
Unfortunately, you are usually not entitled to compensation when an airline goes bankrupt. But if you are in doubt as to whether your canceled flight entitles you to compensation or compensation, you can send your case to us . Then you will get a quick answer. It costs nothing – we only take a small share of the compensation we may get for you.
Unfortunately, it is also not certain that you can get your money back if you have bought your plane tickets directly from the airline.
However, it is different if you have bought your tickets via an international payment card.
All Mastercard credit cards are under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act. This means that you have the right to have your money refunded if a service is not completed or not delivered. You should contact your bank and ask them to block the payment.
Note, however, that you are not able to object at your bank, if the flight was paid with a debit card, as the money is withdrawn immediately. You can find more information regarding this on the CAA’s website.
In case you booked your flight through a travel agent, the travel agency may have insurance that covers the cost. They will be able to inform you of their refund process.