On Saturday, Flybe, the British regional airline, announced it has stopped ticket sales and cancelled all of its flights, which is being taken as a signal of an impending bankruptcy.

The carrier posted a notice on its website saying it has entered administration, which is a form of protection used to shield an insolvent company from creditors.

The notice said, “Flybe has now ceased trading and all flights from and to the UK operated by Flybe have been cancelled and will not be rescheduled… If you are due to fly with Flybe today or in the future, please do not travel to the airport unless you have arranged an alternative flight with another airline. Flybe is unfortunately not able to arrange alternative flights for passengers.”

Based out of Birmingham, the carrier had been Europe’s biggest regional carrier before the pandemic hit, ferrying roughly 8 million passengers per year through 81 airports throughout the UK and Europe. When the pandemic hit, it first forced the carrier into administration in March of 2020 as air travel collapsed amid fears of the virus and pandemic restrictions.

In April of last year, the airline resumed small-scale operations after Thyme Opco purchased its business and assets. Thyme Opco is an entity linked to hedge fund Cyrus Capital. However lingering effects of the pandemic mixed with robust competition from other low-cost operators in the industry, prevented it from building back its business.

David Pike and Mike Pink of the financial advisory firm Interpath have been appointed by the UK High Court as joint administrators to Flybe. In an interview with Reuters Pike said that the company was searching for new investors to save it from complete financial ruin.

According to a spokesman for Interpath, the carrier will only retain 45 out of its 321 workers for the time being. He noted there were about 75,000 Flybe customers with bookings for future flights which are being affected by the flight cancellations.

Flybe passengers who have tickets for flights with the carrier who can no longer use them will be given discounts on other flights with other airlines, according to the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

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