Airlines Flybe completes sale to Connect Airways

British carrier Flybe has announced that it has completed the sale of the airline to Connect Airways

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Both operating subsidiaries, Flybe Limited and Flybe.com Limited, have been sold to Connect Airways Limited. Now, all operations are owned by Connect Airways, and Flybe flights continue to operate normally.

After the deal, Flybe Group is now being considered as a non-trading entity with no subsidiaries. In a statement, the group declared that after meeting rundown costs of the company it is not anticipated that there would be remaining funds to be distributed to shareholders.

Initially, the deal to purchase Flybe was announced in January by Connect Airways. The airline is a new company that was created by Virgin Atlantic along with Cyprus Capital and Stobart Group. Both Virgin and Stobart hold 30% of the capital.

Flybe is expected to apply the cancellation of the standard listing of Flybe shares on the Official List and the London Stock Exchange. The carrier announced that the removal would come into effect on March 11, 2019.

Connect Airways is a British consortium that was formed in December 2018, to acquire Flybe. In November last year, Flybe officially put itself up for sale, shortly after issuing a profit warning for the previous months. The carrier struggled with financial difficulties and had to reduce capacity beforehand.

As part of the takeover, Flybe will be rebranded to Virgin Atlantic. The combined group will then apply for a separate UK Air Operator Certificate (AOC) under the Virgin Atlantic brand. Stobart Air, on the other hand, is expected to continue operations under its Irish AOC.

Flybe is a British airline based in Exeter. The carrier was founded 39 years ago as Jersey European Airways and has nowadays shifted its focus on operating regional routes within Europe. Main operational hubs have been installed at Birmingham and Manchester. Flybe´s fleet currently consists of 74 aircraft, including three ATR 72s, 54 Bombardier Dash 8-400s, 11 Embraer 175s and six Embraer 195s.

Source © flybe.com

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