Andrea Leadsom, the United Kingdom’s business secretary, announced that the government has agreed on a deal that would save the regional airline Flybe.
This comes after Sky News reported on Sunday evening that Flybe is on the brink of collapse and is urgently trying to secure a rescue deal.
Details of the action taken to save the carrier have not been clarified. In a statement, the UK’s Treasury department says it has “announced additional measures to support and enhance regional connectivity across the UK“, while not specifically mentioning the struggling airline.
The department also states it will be reviewing the Air Passenger Duty (APD), which is essentially the UK’s tax on domestic airline tickets. Flybe would likely profit the most from potential changes to the APD, as most of its flights operate within the country.
Flybe is the biggest provider of domestic flights in the United Kingdom and the largest regional airline in Europe. It operates a fleet of more than 50 Dash 8-400 turboprop aircraft, along with a number of regional jets by Brazilian manufacturer Embraer.
In 2019, the company was taken over by a consortium called ‘Connect Airways’, led by Virgin Atlantic and Stobart Air. Flybe is thereafter due to rebrand as ‘Virgin Connect’ this year. A specific plan or timeline for the name and image change has not yet been announced.
Jakob Wert is an aviation journalist from Germany. He built up the website IFN.news and is the Editor-In-Chief of International Flight Network.
