UK regional carrier Flybe, which was beset by financial woes, has ceased operations and filed for administration. The airline has appointed Alan Hudson, Joanne Robinson, Lucy Winterborne and Simon Edel of professional services firm Ernst & Young as joint administrators, a notice on its website reads. “All flights have been grounded and the UK business has ceased trading with immediate effect,” it adds. The latest news came hours after media reports in the UK suggested the carrier was to file for administration after completing its last flights on 4 March. The UK government had rejected Flybe’s request for a £100 million ($129 million) loan, reports indicate. Meanwhile, financial pressure had increased on the carrier in recent days as air travel demand was impacted by the coronavirus outbreak. The carrier appeared to be on the brink of going under in January, before a deal brokered with the UK government prompted investors to pump fresh, limited funding to the struggling carrier. Following Flybe’s collapse, two of its franchise partners, Eastern Airways and Blue Islands, have said their services will continue to operate. In a post on its official Twitter account, Eastern says its services were unaffected. All passengers who have booked Flybe flights operated by Eastern for the rest of the week should “turn up and travel as normal”, it adds. A notice on Blue Islands’ website states: “Blue Islands services will continue to operate as normal, following the closure of Flybe.” Meanwhile, the UK Civil Aviation Authority has weighed in on the collapse, calling it a “sad day” for UK aviation. It urged customers to make their own alternative travel arrangements in light of Flybe’s collapse. For flights operated by franchise partners, passengers should make contact with their airline. Exeter-based Flybe had been planning to rebrand as Virgin Connect, operating as a feeder service for Virgin Atlantic long-haul flights. Flybe assets were acquired in early 2019 by the Connect consortium, comprising Virgin Atlantic, Stobart Group and Cyrus Capital. While the cut-price deal was announced in January 2019, the consortium did not receive European Commission clearance for the acquisition until July 2019. The delay, coupled with other factors, impacted the delivery of the consortium’s turnaround plan – reportedly to the tune of £9 million – for Flybe. Flybe, which was established as Jersey European Airways and later became British European, operates a fleet of over 60 Bombardier Q400 turboprops and Embraer E-Jets.

Source: Cirium

British Airways is temporarily suspending change fees in a bid to counter the coronavirus outbreak's impact on demand.
The airline says in a newly launched campaign: "Flexibility is everything during uncertain times and we're passionate about offering as much freedom as possible." Passengers can "book with confidence as our policy applies right up until departure... without having to pay the normal change fee", BA adds. The initiative applies to bookings made from today until 16 March for flights over the next 12 months. Included in the "zero change fee" campaign are package flight deals with combined hotel and rental car bookings, the airline specifies. Multiple airlines, including BA parent IAG, have implemented cost-saving measures and reduced capacity as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.

Source: Cirium

Thai Airways sold six widebodies last year as part of its strategy to “continuingly sell decommissioned aircraft”. The flag carrier says in a stock exchange filing that it disposed of five Airbus A330-300s and one Boeing 747-400 in 2019. It did not disclose the names of the buyers. Cirium fleets data indicates that Thai Airways still has eight 747-400s in service, as well as 15 A330-300s. In 2019, Thai’s losses widened by Bt3.4 billion ($109 million) to Bt12.4 billion in 2019, as revenues fell despite increased passenger numbers. Among the factors the carrier cited were the civil unrest in Hong Kong, suspension of its Pakistan services due to airspace closure, strong competition from low-cost and Middle Eastern operators, and impact from the USA-China trade war.

Source: Cirium