It has been announced that British regional airline Flybmi has cancelled all of its flights and filed for administration, this decision was made partly due to the uncertainty over Brexit as well as rising fuel and carbon costs.
The East Midlands based airline, which employed 376 staff, operated 17 planes flying to 25 European cities. Affected passengers have been told to contact their travel agents or insurance and credit card companies for further assistance.
On the Flybmi website a spokesperson for Flybmi said:
“It is with a heavy heart that we have made this unavoidable announcement today. The airline has faced several difficulties, including recent spikes in fuel and carbon costs, the latter arising from the EU’s recent decision to exclude UK airlines from full participation in the Emissions Trading Scheme. These issues have undermined efforts to move the airline into profit. Current trading and future prospects have also been seriously affected by the uncertainty created by the Brexit process, which has led to our inability to secure valuable flying contracts in Europe and lack of confidence around bmi’s ability to continue flying between destinations in Europe. Additionally, our situation mirrors wider difficulties in the regional airline industry which have been well documented.
“Against this background, it has become impossible for the airline’s shareholders to continue their extensive programme of funding into the business, despite investment totalling over £40m in the last six years. 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.
“Our employees have worked extremely hard over the last few years and we would like to thank them for their dedication to the company, as well as all our loyal customers who have flown with us over the last 6 years.”
Flybmi operated flights from Bristol Airport to Aberdeen, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Milan, Oslo and Stavanger to name a few.