Flybe operating licence again under threat as sale nears completion

Administrators of collapsed UK regional carrier Flybe are immersed in renewed scrap over the airline’s operating licence, as the transaction to sell the business nears completion. The administrators had already averted a bid last year by the Civil Aviation Authority to revoke the airline’s licence, after the pandemic resulted in amended European legislation and a change to threshold tests for revocation measures. Investors from an entity called Thyme Opco subsequently agreed, in October last year, to acquire the business, its airport slots, brand and other assets. But the administrators state, in an update on progress, that the CAA revived its effort to withdraw the carrier’s operating licence, as well as the route licences, in January. After a panel hearing, they add, the regulator decided on 9 March to revoke the operating licence – prompting the administrators to appeal directly to the UK transport secretary to reverse the decision. The appeal remains in process.<br/>