Flybe Collapse: How will this affect the people of Salford?

A Flybe plane. Image credit: Marco Verch Professional Photographer and Speaker via Flickr. Link to image: https://tinyurl.com/tsk657v. Link to license: https://tinyurl.com/p4devpc

UK airline Flybe has gone into administration, putting 2000 jobs at risk.
The carrier are warning passengers ‘not to travel to the airport’ unless an alternative flight has been arranged.

They have said that the outbreak of the coronavirus is partly to blame for their collapse, as it has massively impacted the demand for air travel and has reportedly stopped the government from
providing a £100 million loan that would have saved the firm.

Flybe were saved from collapse earlier this year when ministers agreed a rescue deal with the company’s shareholders to keep them afloat but the scenario looks much different this time around.

Dr Neil Robinson is a travel and tourism expert at the University of Salford business school and he says that the coronavirus can’t be completely to blame:

“So where did it all go wrong for the company? The impact of corona virus is the biggest immediate cause, with demand falling off a cliff, but the business has been in trouble for a while, with a recent bailout keeping it alive.

Customers wanting very low budget priced tickets and a highly competitive market has resulted in the company going out of business”.

How has the collapse affected the people of Salford?

The collapse of the airline has led to a lot of inconvenience and travel disruption at Manchester airport as well as many jobs being put at risk.

Many flights out of the airport have been cancelled including flights to Amsterdam, Isle of Man and Jersey.

Charlie Lawson, who plays Jim Mcdonald in Coronation Street, took to Twitter to vent his frustrations at losing six flights that he had scheduled in the next two days.

@bbc5live@BelTel@BelfastLive pic.twitter.com/pdFhiCsaEP

— Charlie Lawson (@charlie_lawson1) March 5, 2020

In the video he said that it could lead to a “potentially huge crisis.”

How much will the coronavirus affect other businesses?

Flybe’s collapse has been partly blamed on the coronavirus outbreak as it has made travel less desirable.

There are concerns that the outbreak is going to have an impact on lots of businesses, as well as the worlds economy in general.

China’s estimated 2020 GDP growth was between 5.4% and 5.9% before the start of the outbreak but now their estimated GDP growth is just 3.1%.