BELFAST, March 6 ― Flybe planes sat idle in Northern Ireland yesterday after the regional carrier collapsed ― severing a vital link with mainland Britain for the province already bracing for Brexit's economic impact.
Until the early hours of yesterday morning, Flybe served as an economic artery between Northern Ireland and Britain, transporting 1.6 million passengers every year from Belfast City Airport.
A total 77 per cent of flights from the hub were operated by the carrier until it crashed into administration, wiping out 14 routes to airports across Britain.
Cancellations resulting from the deadly coronavirus proved the final blow to its faltering business model.
“A lot of our passengers fly out of here every week,” Belfast airport CEO Brian Ambrose told AFP. “We have a huge commuting base here so they're very worried because this is part of their livelihood.”
He added: “We have a stretch of water between us and our main market, therefore air travel is vital to our economy.”
'Vital' link
Flybe, based in Exeter in southwest England, appointed administrators after the UK government reportedly refused a rescue loan for £100 million RM541 million).
With its purple liveried twin propellor planes grounded off the Belfast runway yesterday, Flybe gave way to only six flights registered on the largely blank departures board at lunchtime.
Taxi ranks were abandoned, staff sat idle and only a handful of passengers waited at check-in. Posters warned about the risks of the coronavirus which proved fatal to Flybe.
Pulling a wheely suitcase, passenger Ryan Curran was forced to fly home to Belfast from Manchester in England by an alternative carrier after Flybe went under.
“It's pretty vital”, the 27 year-old accountant said of the Flybe service. “For businessmen and businesswomen this is the handiest airport in Belfast.”
“For suppliers, and customers, it's going to affect everybody,” Curran added.
Braced for impact
Northern Ireland's business community has already been wracked with uncertainty for the past three years as Brexit negotiations faltered, raising the spectre of trading barriers at its borders.
The region ― still in recovery after a bloody sectarian conflict known as “The Troubles” ended in 1997 ― faces yet more turbulence at the end of this year when a Brexit transition period ends.
“Northern Ireland is particularly dependent on air transport for inter-city travel within the UK, reducing the time and distance to do business to manageable levels,” said Ulster University politics lecturer Duncan Morrow.
“Coming as it does amid wider uncertainty (...) this is another blow to the economy in a region which is already fragile.”
Northern Ireland's political divide between those who believe in the union with Britain and those campaigning for unity with Ireland fuelled “The Troubles” when more than 3,500 lost their lives.
For those on the unionist side of the debate the loss of Flybe may also be a symbolic blow.
“While Brexit is a constant theme in local political and economic circles, the impact of the collapse of Flybe is more psychological than constitutional,” Morrow added.
Demand and supply
The British government said in a statement it is “looking urgently at how routes not already covered by other airlines can be re-established by the industry”.
Yesterday Scottish regional airline Loganair stepped in, promising to serve two of the routes out of Belfast City Airport.
Ambrose hopes that more will come forward to fill the void.
“I think the region is in good shape and has a lot to offer,” he said, recounting the economic progress of the region in recent years ― progress it cannot afford to lose.
“We can go with confidence to the airlines to say there is a demand for our product,” he said.
“If there's customer demand, airlines will come in and fill that space.” ― AFP
