Flybe customers have revealed their fury over the sudden collapse of Europe’s biggest regional airline that has split families, wrecked holidays and isolated people in harder to reach corners of the UK.
Rhydian Bowen Phillips, a broadcaster and singer from Barry in Wales, said he was due to fly from Cardiff to Paris for a trip to Disneyland with his wife and young daughter.
‘(We were) made aware not to go to the airport via Flybe social accounts,’ he said, claiming that he had ‘nothing at all’ in terms of direct contact from the airline.
He added that the trip was the family’s first since having a baby and had been booked to celebrate his wife’s birthday.
‘Waiting to speak to Disney now… it was a package through them,’ he said, adding that he had been on hold hoping to speak to the holiday provider for over an hour.
Angela Thornton, from Penzance, arrived at Exeter airport to catch a flight to Belfast – her phone had run out of battery and she is moving house, so she does not have internet access, and had not heard about Flybe’s collapse.
She travels from her home in Cornwall to Northern Ireland to visit family and friends every three months and said: ‘I’m gutted. Just trying not to cry – I’m totally shocked’.
They took to social media as they mourned the collapse of the airline and the impact on their lives.
People have complained that they had been robbed of a vital lifeline to see relatives and one said that the firm going into administration had ruined her 50th birthday.
Couple Teifi Glyndwr Bowen Phillips (centre) and Rhydian Bowen Phillips, from Wales, were due to take their first holiday together to Disneyland Paris before hearing that Flybe had collapsed – scuppering the family break
Passenger Angela Thornton, who was due to fly from Exeter Airport to Belfast before her flight got cancelled – it is the route she uses to see family in Northern Ireland
A tractor blocks the wing of a Flybe plane at Southampton Airport after all 75 planes were shut down
Birmingham Airports empty Flybe check-in today as the business went to the wall overnight
One devastated traveller wrote on Twitter this morning: ‘#Flybe no more. Our lifeline to see elderly parents at short notice has just disappeared.’
And Melissa Young posted: ‘#Flybe thanks for ruining my 50th!! Cancelling my flight today! We have lost a lot of money!!!’
Another compared the collapse to heartbreak as she said the airline had save her from sitting in hours of motorway traffic.
‘Looks a six hour driver tomorrow night,’ Helen Parker added. ‘Thoughts are with the Flybe family at this time.’
Passengers caught up in the chaos have shared images of planes being taken away following the suspected collapse of the airline
Others shared their sympathies with those affected by the suspected collapse
Passengers were taken off a plane at Manchester after hours of waiting on the tarmac
Flybe carries about eight million passengers a year between 71 airports across the UK and Europe. Its collapse could leave thousands of people stranded across the UK and Europe
The regional carrier narrowly avoided going bust in January, but has continued to lose money.
A drop in demand caused by the coronavirus ‘made a difficult situation worse’ for Flybe and the Civil Aviation Authority confirmed in the early hours that the firm had ceased trading ‘with immediate effect’.
Passengers on the low-cost European carrier last night told of how they were kicked off planes after hours waiting on the tarmac for take-off.
Many have been left stranded in the wrong city with no means of getting home as seizure notices are placed on planes across the country including in cities such as Manchester and Glasgow.
And overnight the airline’s signage was already being removed from displays at Exeter Airport. The airline’s website has stopped working and an error message appears upon loading stating the link is ‘no longer live’.
Mark Anderson, the CEO of Flybe, last night told of his ‘enormous sadness’ in a letter to staff in which he said E&Y are expected to be appointed as administrators for the company.
He told of how coronavirus had put ‘pressure on an already difficult situation’ and said he appreciated how ‘distressing this news is and the shock and numbness’ staff will be feeling.
Flybe’s collapse will put 2,300 jobs at risk and could cost customers tens of thousands of pounds in lost holidays.
Many were also expected to be left stranded across the UK and Europe.
Crisis talks were held throughout the day on Wednesday to try to secure a rescue package, but no deal was agreed.