Flybe cancels flights amid reports the airline is set to collapse

Flybe, Europe's largest regional airline, has cancelled a host of flights following reports the company will shortly fold.

The airline's final flights are set to touch down around the UK on Wednesday night. Flybe said the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on demand for air travel was partly to blame. The airline has been hit with a slump in business since the outbreak of Covid-19 with bookings thought to be down almost 50% over the past week alone. The company said on Wednesday it would collapse imminently unless it received a £100 million loan from the UK government. The company employs 2,000 people and is a leading carrier at a number of airports including Belfast International Airport. It ran into financial difficulty last year and was bought by a consortium which includes Virgin Atlantic. But it also ran into financial problems in January this year and narrowly avoided going bust. It's expected a statement will be released by the airline on Wednesday night when all of their airborne flights have landed.