Connect Airways
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Connect Airways was a consortium formed in December 2018[1] to acquire the British regional airline Flybe,[2] which had put itself up for sale in November 2018 after issuing a profit warning the previous month,[3] The consortium comprised Virgin Atlantic and the Irish wet-lease specialist airline Stobart Air.[2]
Company type | Private limited company[1] |
---|---|
Industry | Aviation |
Founded | 18 December 2018 (2018-12-18)[1] |
Founders | Virgin Atlantic Stobart Aviation |
Defunct | 10 March 2020 |
Fate | Under administration |
Headquarters | Exeter Airport, Devon, England |
Key people | Mark Anderson, CEO |
Products | Airlines |
Owners |
|
Subsidiaries | Flybe |
Website | connect-airways |
The consortium was founded by Virgin Atlantic, Stobart Aviation and Cyrus Capital Partners through its Luxembourg-based vehicle DLP Holdings.[2] Virgin and Stobart each held 30% of the capital with Cyrus holding the remaining 40%.[4] Cyrus Capital had previously worked with Virgin Group on the launch of its Virgin America airline and its subsequent sale to Alaska Airlines.[5]
The purchase of the operating assets of the Flybe Group was completed on 21 February 2019.[6]
On 5 March 2020, the consortium was unable to commit further financial support and Flybe entered administration, ceasing all operations.[7] On 10 March 2020,[8] Connect Airways in turn entered administration.[9]