UK airline Flybe to return to skies next year after pandemic collapse

UK regional airline Flybe, one of the first corporate casualties of the coronavirus pandemic, has outlined plans to return to the skies next year. The carrier said it would restart flying to destinations in the UK and EU in “early 2022” from a new base in Birmingham. The original Flybe was in poor financial shape leading up to the pandemic, and collapsed in March 2020 after loan talks with the government fell through following a sudden fall in passenger numbers. Flybe was then bought from administrators EY in October 2020 by a company run by investor Lucien Farrell’s hedge fund Cyrus Capital, with the intention of reviving the brand. Cyrus had originally injected money into Flybe as part of a rescue spearheaded by Virgin Atlantic in 2019. The new owners have not revealed flying routes, but industry experts have warned that rivals have already taken over many of the company’s viable old routes, such as Manchester to Southampton. The airline also lost valuable take-off and landing slots at Heathrow airport during the administration process. “As for what’s next, please stay tuned. We plan to provide more information in the coming weeks and months,” said CE Dave Pflieger, an industry veteran and turnround expert. Before it collapsed, Flybe was Europe’s largest regional carriers, serving important regional air routes in Britain and carrying 8m passengers a year between 81 airports in the UK and Europe. Tim Alderslade, the CE of Airlines UK, the industry association, told MPs at a parliamentary transport committee hearing on Tuesday that the airline will need to work hard to find its niche in a difficult market.<br/>