Airline halts all flights as it goes bust
Airline Flybmi, which connected Scotland to a number of European destinations, has gone into administration and cancelled all flights last night.
The shock announcement came as airline owners blamed uncertainty over Brexit and tough competition from budget flight companies.
Flybmi had been operating around 600 flights a week from Glasgow, Aberdeen, Inverness, Kirkwall, Stornaway, Sumburgh and Wick, to a dozen European countries.
The firm, which operates 19 small jets, has more than 400 employees who have been left reeling by the sudden announcement which came just days after news it was looking at new routes from Derry.
Passengers who had been booked to travel with the airline vented their frustrations on social media. One traveller tweeted: “Great start to our holiday; en route by taxi to Heathrow as our Flybmi from Bristol to Munich (which had previously been changed from Southampton) was cancelled with no explanation after we had gone through security!”
The airline is part of a wider airline holding company called Airline Investments Limited Group, owned by brothers Stephen and Peter Bond, who also own Loganair.
It is particularly popular with business travellers as it serves secondary routes often neglected by bigger airlines.
Flybmi cited Brexit among the reasons for the decision to go into administration, stating: “We sincerely regret that this course of action has become the only option open to us, but the challenges, particularly those created by Brexit, have proven to be insurmountable.”
The Civil Aviation Authority said passengers who had booked flights with credit cards would be protected by consumer law.