Flybe sold to Virgin consortium

Friday 22 February 2019

Virgin Atlantic and have completed its purchase of Flybe, Europe's largest domestic airline.

Flybe confirmed late last night that it had sold its assets worth £2.8m to Connect Airways, a consortium led by Virgin, alongside the Stobart Group and Cyrus Capital.

The deal was struck hours after Flybe threw out a much better deal from a US airline, which itself came onto the table at the very last minute.

This all comes a day after Guernsey's Economic Development Committee announced it would pump just over £800,000 into Flybe to secure the island a direct link to Heathrow - a move which for some indicates Flybe will remain as it is, flying to Guernsey, under its new ownership.

But other than that, exactly what new management will mean for Flybe is as yet unknown. 

The sale means Guernsey Airport could soon have a new brand of aircraft flying to it, possibly Virgin?

The Stobart Group, part of the Connect Airways Consortium, is headquartered in Guernsey as well. 

This deal has been in the works for some time now, as Flybe first announced it was up for sale toward the end of last year. The whole situation came out of the airline finding itself under extreme financial pressure because of the industry-wide difficulties. The purchase was needed to bail it out.