The largest shareholder in Flybe, the British regional air carrier that collapsed last March under twin pressure from big losses followed by the pandemic, is planning to revive the airline early next year.
The revival would be in the hands of one of its three pre-collapse owners, Cyrus Capital, but no precise date has been announced or any routes. The operating company, Thyme Opco, is owned by Cyrus, a hedge fund.
Flybe was Europe’s largest regional carrier, linking dozens of UK cities to each other and to a number of European cities. It shut down in March just before the virus crisis grounded nearly all airlines. Before that, it had hoped to rebrand as Virgin Connect. At that point, the airline served 81 cities and 8 million passengers.
Cyrus Capital, which owned 40% of the company when it collapsed and shut down on a moment’s notice, says it has bought “the brand, intellectual property, stock and equipment” from the bankruptcy administrators, although “equipment” doesn’t include any actual airplanes; Flybe’s were all leased and were returned to the leasing companies. The other partners, each with 30%, were Virgin Atlantic, itself in financial trouble, and Stobart Group.
The path back into the business does not look easy. When Flybe shut down, other regional carriers, including Scotland’s Loganair, picked up the most viable of Flybe’s routes. And many other routes are short enough that they were already competing not with other airlines but with trains and cars.
