Flybe airline collapses as coronavirus outbreak affects air travel

Belfast.  Exeter. Southampton.  Newcastle. Flybe planes provided a network linking up cities across the UK.

But no more.

Last night it went into administration after talks over a government rescue collapsed.

The business has struggled for years, but the spread of coronavirus has been cutting passenger numbers for every airline, and Flybe couldn’t cope.

Today there was a warning that the airline industry worldwide could lose more than £87 billion of business this year as the virus freezes trade and tourism.

The Prime Minister has been holding emergency talks with the Chancellor and the Bank of England about how to shore up the economy as the virus spreads.