UK operator BMI Regional has become the latest casualty of the pressure on European airlines, with its decision to cease operations and file for administration.

The company is blaming the uncertainty regarding the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union for contributing to its demise.

All flights have been cancelled, effective 16 February.

BMI Regional had emerged in 2012 as a spin-off airline, under new owners, after the mainline carrier BMI was sold to British Airways parent IAG.

It subsequently became a sister carrier to Scottish operator Loganair, both having been brought under the holding company Airline Investments.

BMI Regional operated services under the brand name Flybmi with a fleet of 17 Embraer ERJ-135 and -145 jets, serving 25 European destinations, and employed nearly 380 personnel in the UK, Germany and Belgium

Middle Eastern carrier Etihad Airways is in talks to cut its A350 order by 42 aircraft, leaving the airline with 20 A350-1000s in the backlog.

Airbus has disclosed that it has held "commercial discussions" with Etihad, to "reduce" its order, in its full-year financial results.

Etihad had 40 A350-900s and 22 A350-1000s on order at the end of January, so the cuts amount to the entire -900 order plus two -1000s.

Abu Dhabi-based Etihad’s blow to the airframer follows neighbouring Emirates’ decision to slash its A380 orders, forcing a closure of the double-deck aircraft programme.

Airbus says it will “continue to improve the A350 programme’s performance” in order to reach break-even this year, and improve margins beyond this date.

Avianca Brazil has appointed industry veteran Jorge Vianna its new chief executive effective immediately, replacing Frederico Pedreira at the bankrupt carrier.

Pedreira will remain “providing his support to the operation during the transition period”, the carrier says in a statement.

Vianna returns to a company he knows well. He served as vice-president of Ocean Air, which was rebranded Avianca Brazil in 2014, from 2001 to 2009. During his tenure, he oversaw the transition to a scheduled carrier from an air taxi and charter airline serving the country’s oil industry.

Since departing Ocean Air, he held several executive positions with Puma Air and regional carrier Passaredo Airlines.

The challenges Vianna faces are significant. He will have to make travel agencies and passengers feel confident about the airline’s future, while creating confidence with creditors and lessors and potentially stop the already-underway aircraft repossession processes.

Avianca Brazil hopes to get a $75 million lifeline from three US investment funds belonging to Paul Singer's Elliott Management until April, when the bankruptcy court will issue a decision on the airline’s restructuring plan.