Passengers stranded as British airline closes up with zero notice

British-based regional airline Flybe has gone out of business less than a year after it was relaunched.

The airline said it had cancelled all flights and "ceased trading".

There was no notice given to 2,500 customers who had been scheduled to take flighs on Saturday and around 75,000 passengers with bookings are potentially impacted, Travel Mole reported.

A company statement said most of the airlines 321 staff had been made redundant and it was reported that the airline is not helping customers to organise alternative flights.

The Civil Aviation Authority in the UK said other carriers would provide discounted "rescue fares" to flyers left stranded by the closure.

These include Ryanair, British Airways, easyJet and rail operators.

Ryanair was quick to jump in and extended an invitation to laid-off workers to apply for jobs.

The airline traces its history back to Jersey European Airways, which was set up in 1979 following the merger of Intra Airways and Jersey Air Services. The business was renamed British European in 2000 and Flybe in 2002.

Flybe first collapsed in 2020 at the start of the Covid pandemic but was acquired by an affiliate of US hedge fund Cyrus Capital.

The Birmingham-based airline sold tickets on 22 routes to 16 destinations including in France, the Netherlands and Switzerland.