The collapse of regional carrier Flybe saw another UK-based airline bite the dust, but administrators EY confirmed that its MRO affiliate Flybe Aviation Services will continue operating.
"Flybe Aviation Services is a subsidiary of Flybe, trading as normal and not in insolvency," an EY spokesperson told Aviation Week on Thursday evening.
National regulator the UK Civil Aviation Authority confirmed Flybe entered administration on Mar. 5 with all flights grounded and operations ceasing. Accountancy firm EY has been appointed to handle the administration process.
Flybe’s collapse has happened less than two months after the UK government agreed a rescue plan for the troubled carrier by deferring tax payments and allowing the airline more time to find fresh investment. However, reports say the government since rejected Flybe's request for a £100 million ($129 million) tax payer-funded rescue loan. In addition, passenger numbers have been hit by the global COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak.
The airline’s future had been in doubt for some time. In February 2019, it was sold to the Connect Airways consortium backed by Virgin Atlantic and Stobart Aviation. Despite accounting for around 40% of the UK’s regional travel, the airline continued to incur losses. Flybe Aviation Services was also acquired as part of the buyout.
The airline’s MRO division is operated from Exeter Airport in South West England. It employs more than 500 people, accounting for nearly a quarter of the group’s 2,400 staff.
Flybe Aviation Services’ offerings include line and base maintenance, heavy checks and AOG and field support. Commercial aircraft supported by the company, which carries out a mix of Flybe fleet and third-party services, include Embraer aircraft, all variants of the De Havilland Canada Dash 8, CRJ series, Challenger 850, BAE 146/RJ and ATR 42/72.
It also runs an EASA Part 147 technical training academy at its Exeter site. Additional aftermarket services includes a parts trading business, stocking more than 20,000-line items for regional aircraft while the overall pool holds in excess of one million components.
The continuation of the Flybe maintenance business averts further capacity being eliminated from the MRO shops of the UK and Europe, starting with the demise of Monarch Aircraft Engineering (MAEL) in early 2019. Since then, leisure carrier Thomas Cook Airlines, which operated a base maintenance hangar in Manchester, went bust while line maintenance specialist Morson Aircraft Engineering Services, which said the airline accounted for around 75% of its work, also ceased operations.
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