Struggling Irish regional carrier Stobart Air has terminated its franchise agreement with Aer Lingus and is to cease operations following the collapse of a proposed purchase of the airline. Stobart operates to a number of regional points in the UK from Belfast City airport as well as some Irish domestic routes for Aer Lingus under the franchise. These flights were cancelled on the morning of 12 June. “It is with great regret and sadness that Stobart Air can confirm that the board is in the process of appointing a liquidator to the business and the airline is to cease operations with immediate effect,” the airline says in a statement. “This unavoidable and difficult decision means that all Aer Lingus Regional routes, currently operated by Stobart Air under its franchise agreement with Aer Lingus, have been cancelled.” Stobart Air owner Esken Group – formerly known as Stobart Group before a name change in February – reached an agreement to sell the carrier to an Isle of Man-based investor, Ettyl. But at the end of May Esken said it had become aware that Ettyl’s proposed financing for the transaction was no longer available and that Ettyl was in discussions over another potential source of financing. Stobart Air confirms in its statement today that “it has emerged that the funding to support this transaction is no longer in place and the new owner is now unable to conclude the transaction”. It adds: “Given the continued impact of the pandemic which has virtually halted air travel since March 2020 and in the absence of any alternative purchasers or sources of funding, the board of Stobart Air must take the necessary, unavoidable and difficult decision to seek to appoint a liquidator.” Stobart Air was operating Aer Lingus regional flights from Belfast to Birmingham, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Exeter, Leeds and Manchester, together with the Dublin connections to Donegal and Kerry. It employs 480 staff. Aer Lingus says it was notified by Stobart Air late on 11 June that it was terminating the franchise agreement with immediate effect and that all regional flights operated by the carrier for it had been cancelled. The long-term franchise agreement with Stobart was due to run until the end of 2022, though Aer Lingus had already selected a new partner, widely reported to be Irish start-up Emerald Airlines, to take over these flights from the start of 2023. Data shows that Stobart Air was operating nine ATR 72-600 turboprobs and a single ATR 42-600, and had two further ATR 72s in storage. The aircraft are all leased. Stobart Air has been on the hunt for new owners since Stobart Group, now Esken, in April last year agreed to buy back the carrier from with the administrators of Connect Airways in a deal aimed at managing outstanding financial commitments. That came a little more than a year after it had sold the carrier to the Connect Airways consortium as part of the latter’s takeover over Flybe, which itself collapsed in March 2020. The airline was formerly known as Aer Arann, before rebranding as Stobart Air in 2014.

British Airways has furloughed thousands of employees again after the UK government's plan to begin reopening international travel from 17 May fell short of industry expectations. BA has confirmed a BBC report which says that the airline has put thousands of staff back under the government's coronavirus job-retention scheme. The scheme pays 80% of eligible employees' wages, up to a cap of £2,500 ($3,536) per month. It has been extended from the end of June until the end of September 2021, although grants will reduce to 70% of wages (up to a maximum of £2,187.50 per month) in July and 60% of wages (with a monthly cap of £1,875) in August. It is understood that affected employees include those working in management and those not linked to safety operations or operational-critical roles. "Like many companies, we are using the furlough scheme to protect jobs during this unprecedented crisis," states BA. "However, it's vital the government follows its risk-based framework to reopen international travel as soon as possible, putting more low-risk countries like the US on its green list at the next available opportunity." The aviation industry has been frustrated with the government's traffic-light system, which was put in place to enable international travel to restart from 17 May. Only a handful of countries have made the green list – meaning travellers do not need to self-isolate when they return to the UK – and the government is advising people against visiting amber-list countries for holidays. Popular holiday destination Portugal was initially on the green list, but was removed with little notice shortly after it opened up, prompting a last-minute dash back to the UK by travellers keen to avoid quarantine.

The administrators of Air Mauritius have secured a further postponement to the deadline for presenting a plan of reorganisation to the carrier's creditors. In a stock market disclosure on 8 June, administrators Grant Thornton say they have gained supreme court clearance to hold the watershed meeting no later than 31 January 2022. The administrators Sattar Hajee Abdoula and Arvindsingh Gokhool had previously had until 30 June to present the plan, itself a postponement from an original deadline of December 2020. Grant Thornton says discussions are under way to finalise the "financial means" and the "structural reforms" to be implemented at the flag carrier. Abdoula says the administrators final proposals will depend "greatly on the support funding" that the future backers of Air Mauriritus are prepared to invest in the carrier. "Discussions were initiated and we hope that the necessary arbitrations will be made quickly,", Abdoula adds. The island-based carrier filed for voluntary administration in April 2020.