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PA Archive/PA Images

British airline Flybmi blames Brexit as it announces it will cease operations

The airline had been unable to secure post-Brexit flying contracts in Europe.

BRITISH REGIONAL AIRLINE Flybmi has announced it will cease operations and file for administration, blaming spikes in fuel, carbon costs and uncertainty over Brexit.

Parent company British Midland Regional Limited said it had cancelled all flights with immediate effect, and would not be able to purchase, rearrange or reschedule any bookings on behalf of customers.

Flybmi, based in the East Midlands region of England, operated routes to 25 European cities, and had 376 employees based in Britain, Germany, Sweden and Belgium.

“It is with a heavy heart that we have made this unavoidable announcement today,” a company spokesperson said in a statement posted on its website.

“The airline has faced several difficulties, including recent spikes in fuel and carbon costs.

“Current trading and future prospects have also been seriously affected by the uncertainty created by the Brexit process,” the spokesperson added.

Flybmi had been unable to secure post-Brexit flying contracts in Europe and feared it may not be able to continue serving destinations on the continent after Britain leaves the EU on 29 March, according to the statement.

“Against this background, it has become impossible for the airline’s shareholders to continue their extensive programme of funding into the business, despite investment totalling over £40 million in the last six years,” it said.

The airline, which said it carried 522,000 passengers on 29,000 flights last year, operated under codeshare agreements with a host of European partners, including Lufthansa, Turkish Airlines and Air France.

Its flights operated out of Aberdeen, Bristol, East Midlands, London Stansted, Newcastle and Derry in Britain as well as a host of European airports, including Frankurt, Milan Bergamo, Munich, and Paris Charles de Gaulle.

In lengthy advice posted online, it told customers not to travel to airports unless they have re-booked flights with alternative providers.

It advised them to seek refunds for their cancelled reservations from credit card companies, booking websites or travel insurance providers.

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    Mute Paolo
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    Feb 17th 2019, 8:31 AM

    The first of many to come….

    242
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    Mute DavidOReilly
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    Feb 17th 2019, 9:20 AM

    @Paolo: there were flying out Waterford for a while. Competitive prices -No continually delayed or diverted flights.

    37
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    Mute Veronica
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    Feb 17th 2019, 9:35 AM

    @DavidOReilly: they used fly out of cork for a while as well, think they used go to wales but open to correction!

    22
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    Mute Alan Barry
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    Feb 17th 2019, 8:35 AM

    Derry in Britain?

    110
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    Mute Vocal Outrage
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    Feb 17th 2019, 9:02 AM

    @Alan Barry: I was going to say yes, but Britain refers to the land mass of England, Wales and Scotland, Derry is however in the United Kingdom

    84
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    Mute Mel Fitzpatrick
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    Feb 17th 2019, 8:31 AM

    And so it begins…..

    90
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    Mute Pdiddy
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    Feb 17th 2019, 8:49 AM

    With an average of 18 passengers per flight last year its hardly surprising though is it?

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    Mute Niall Ó Cofaigh
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    Feb 17th 2019, 9:17 AM

    @Pdiddy: maybe that is because they operated 37 and 50 seater aircraft – the photo is of BMI baby which ceased operations in 2012 – so an 18 passenger load factor is better then the photo suggests – but I agree, very low load factors overall and hard to keep going on low load factor roots

    36
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    Mute G.W.
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    Feb 17th 2019, 8:49 AM

    Marginal businesses without strong capital will always be on the edge, Brexit is just an excuse.

    91
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    Mute KEV
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    Feb 17th 2019, 8:56 AM

    @G.W.: the excuse, no. It’s the last straw. Project reality is coming

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    Mute Paul Furey
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    Feb 17th 2019, 9:03 AM

    @G.W.: Good man. You know better than most

    35
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    Mute Peter Carroll
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    Feb 17th 2019, 10:01 AM

    @G.W.: Not really. If they cannot secure contracts then they cannot get further investment or creditor indulgence so they ran out of cash.

    21
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    Mute Niall Ó Cofaigh
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    Feb 17th 2019, 9:13 AM

    Oh dear – the photo – BMI baby stopped operations in 2012 – and flybmi does not even operate the type of aircraft in the photo … They operate Embraer ERJ-135 and ERJ-145 and they look nothing like the aircraft in the photo which could be a boeing 737 – bad choice and lack of research on someone’s part – should really change the photo to one of the airline that the article as about

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    Mute wattsed56
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    Feb 17th 2019, 9:31 AM

    @Niall Ó Cofaigh: It’s a rushed – out piece of clickbait, but I do feel sorry for the staff. Air Berlin, Monarch, bmi….

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    Mute Tom Jennings
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    Feb 17th 2019, 9:40 AM

    @wattsed56: rushed.. it’s been obvious for a few days. Flights been cancelled since Thursday, all aircraft and crew’s were repositioned on Friday and Saturday.
    No need for it to be rushed, all aviation sites had it 48 hours agy

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    Mute Martin Critten
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    Feb 17th 2019, 8:38 AM

    East Midlands based airlines have been going bust for decades. Won’t be be the first or last.

    45
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    Mute Colm Feighery
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    Feb 17th 2019, 8:51 AM

    The headline is misleading yet again…. It blamed fuel, carbon costs…….. And then uncertainty over BREXIT…. Jaysus people… Stop doing the reporters jobs for them

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    Mute S
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    Feb 17th 2019, 8:55 AM

    Funding pulled for the A5 upgrade to Derry (which would have benefited those from
    North Donegal too) & now BMI are gone from Derry. Once again the North West is disadvantaged.

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    Mute tubbsyf
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    Feb 17th 2019, 8:53 AM

    Derry in britain?

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    Mute Conor Kleaver
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    Feb 17th 2019, 9:17 AM

    @tubbsyf: londonderry

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    Mute Noel Doherty
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    Feb 17th 2019, 2:03 PM

    @Conor Kleaver: ?

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    Mute cr
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    Feb 17th 2019, 9:53 AM

    522000 passengers divided by 29000 flights is an average of 18 passengers per flight….no wonder they are fooked!

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    Mute Niall Ó Cofaigh
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    Feb 17th 2019, 1:47 PM

    @cr: on 35 and 50 seater aircraft that is just under 1/2 load – the aircraft in the photo is BMI baby which stopped operating in 2012 – still hard to continue operations with only 50% load factors….

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    Mute Seriously stunned
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    Feb 17th 2019, 11:20 AM

    Brexit will be blamed for everything.the cat had kittens……..bloody brexit.

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    Mute Niall Ó Cofaigh
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    Feb 17th 2019, 1:50 PM

    @Seriously stunned: and in doing so it gives the Brexiter ammo to retort that Brexit is responsible for nothing, it was going to happen anyway – same happened with making capital over the decision not to build some vehicle in the UK which had more to do with diesel sales and less to do with Brexit then was portrayed… how many kittens can we blame on Brexit…. ???

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    Mute Mick12
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    Feb 17th 2019, 9:10 AM

    Sad way too go

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    Mute Brendan Joseph Madden
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    Feb 17th 2019, 12:24 PM

    BMI baby is a different airline, shorthand BD for British Midland. That airline is merged with British Airways now.

    This airline is BM, formerly BMI regional, used to be part of Lufthansa, now independent. You might just want to change the cover shot to an Embraer in their livery.

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    Mute Niall Ó Cofaigh
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    Feb 17th 2019, 1:54 PM

    @Brendan Joseph Madden: 100% agree – and commented to that effect some time ago – guess no one monitors the comments… it is actually misleading as there are people working out the load factor as 17 or 18 pax per flight – thinking it is a very empty aircraft whereas they are nearly 1/.2 full..

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    Mute Sean Leonard
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    Feb 17th 2019, 2:42 PM

    I know it’s pretty irrelevant.. The file photo used on this article is of BMIBABY Airlines… That ceased flying in 2012… But as people are saying its first of many… And you’ll get a fair few companies using Brexit as an excuse to close.

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    Mute Eric Davies
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    Feb 17th 2019, 1:07 PM

    it also ‘blamed’ raising fuel cost ,airport tax’s and carbon tax’s’ — but hey lets just ‘blame’ everything on brexit shall we ?? maybe if governments across the world were not so greedy in taxing anything and everything to the hilt – more people and businesses would be able to survive !

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    Mute B Ó Raghallaigh
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    Feb 17th 2019, 2:55 PM

    Their terrible customer service probably has something to do with it too

    2
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