Flybe collapse: Customers face forking out hundreds of pounds for new flights

It announced in the early hours yesterday that it had ceased trading with immediate effect and that administrators had been appointed.

Areas of Birmingham Airport were left empty and one passenger, Venivra Riccardo, from Italy, was in the UK for work and was due to fly to Paris with Flybe at midday yesterday.

He said he was going to get an Air France flight to Paris from Manchester at 5pm.

Flybe – the largest operator of domestic flights in the UK – employed around 400 people and operated about 750 flights a week at Birmingham Airport.

Now Ryanair, Easyjet and British Airways have offered rescue fares for customers left without flights.

And West Midlands Trains, which runs West Midlands Railway and London Northwestern services, offered stranded passengers free travel along with West Coast mainline operator Avanti yesterday, along with National Express coaches.

Sarah Winning and Miles Draper were due to fly from East Midlands to Amsterdam at 8.50am, but received an email at 2am to say the flight was cancelled.

Sarah, 24, from Nottingham, said the pair had booked to go to Amsterdam for a festival for Miles’s birthday, and have now paid £350 for new flights from Birmingham to Amsterdam via Brussels.

The personal trainer added: “Our flight isn’t until 2pm but we left really early in case anything else happened.

“When we saw the email we just looked at each other, it was really really short notice.

“We tried to check in last night and the site was down so we had a feeling something was wrong.

“It’s a nightmare really.”

Miles, 24, added: “It was really annoying, we thought there would be more notice.

“We’ve now had to pay £350 for new flights.

“Our flight is booked back to East Midlands but our car is now at Birmingham.”

A statement on Flybe’s website said: “Flybe entered administration on 5 March 2020 and Alan Hudson, Joanne Robinson, Lucy Winterborne and Simon Edel of EY have been appointed as joint administrators.

“All flights have been grounded and the UK business has ceased trading with immediate effect."

West Midlands Mayor Andy Street said he will be working with Birmingham Airport to fill the routes.

He said: "I am disappointed to hear about Flybe’s collapse, and my thoughts are with staff and passengers. It has unfortunately become clear that their business model is no longer sustainable and the Government, which was right to step in the first time, cannot keep propping them up.

"The main focus now is on making sure Birmingham Airport maintains its excellent connectivity, and disruption for passengers is kept to a minimum. I am pleased the airport already has plans to backfill routes, and I will work with them to help fill as many of these as possible."

Sue Woodward, leader of Burntwood Town Council, said her son and his family live in Guernsey and regularly use Flybe.

She said: "My son and daughter-in-law live in Guernsey and have done for more than 12 years.

"We usually go over there to see them at least three to four times a year and they come to visit us too with their children and fly with Flybe from Birmingham Airport.

"They were due to come out and visit us at the end of March with the children for my husband's birthday, but now that's all up in the air. The children are also meant to be going to Alton Towers, which was one of their Christmas presents. They have nothing like that in Guernsey so they are excited, we don't know what will happen now.

"Guernsey have their own airline Aurigny but they fly to East Midlands airport. My son has said this will be a disaster for Guernsey and make it really difficult to get off the island.

"There's also the concern that if the seats are reduced the prices will go up, meaning that we may have to reduce the number of times that we can go and visit each other. It would be a shame, the children change so much so quickly, we would be able to Facetime them, but it's not the same.

"My son and daughter have said they're not panicking yet until they have received confirmation from Flybe, but we hope it can be resolved."

And a member of Wolverhampton band The Nightingales was due to fly to Stuttgart with Flybe on March 19.

Guitarist James Smith was flying to rehearse with bassist Andreas Schmid who lives in Germany.

James said: “Only Flybe flies from Stuttgart to Birmingham directly.

“When we do tours around the UK he has to fly over here, Andy works as our sound engineer as well.

“We could lose a few hundred pounds, for a band at our level it is quite a big deal.

“The main thing is trying not to lose our money, we’re on a label but we’re self-sufficient.”

A spokesman for Birmingham Airport said: “It is with regret to receive the news that Flybe has collapsed and therefore ceased trading with immediate effect.

“Our priority now is to support passengers who were scheduled to travel from Birmingham over the coming days by providing onsite customer support and information.

“Those booked with Flybe are advised to visit caa.co.uk/news for advice. Passengers due to travel with Flybe should not to come to the Airport as there will be no more flights with the airline from the UK.

“A number of routes operated by Flybe are served by other carriers from Birmingham, and we already have arrangements for two airlines to replace five of its routes in the next few weeks. We will continue to engage with other airlines to replace the remaining capacity for our region and customers.

“No further information is available at this time.”

Confederation of British Industry (CBI) regional director for the West Midlands, Richard Butler, called for better transport links in the West Midlands.

He said: “Following Flybe’s collapse, our thoughts are with their employees and passengers trying to get home. Understandably they will be looking for reassurances today - addressing their concerns must be a priority.

“Birmingham is a key hub for Flybe and the is critical to the region’s connectivity.

“Government must support these talks, help protect those who’ve lost their jobs and secure vital regional connectivity. Better transport links are essential for West Midlands firms and fundamental to the Government’s ambitions of ‘levelling up’ the UK’s economic performance.”