The administrators of flybe. (Birmingham, GB) have applied for a temporary operating licence from the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), the regulator announced.
On January 28, 2023, joint administrators Mike Pink and David Pike lodged the application after, on January 27, having given the UK CAA an undertaking that flybe. would not:
- take bookings or sell tickets for flights;
- request payments from consumers in respect of balances for existing flight bookings unless those flights have been completed; and
- undertake any aircraft operation which requires a valid Operating Licence and Air Operators Certificate (AOC).
A spokeswoman for the UK CAA confirmed to ch-aviation that the regulator had not yet decided on whether to grant the temporary license to flybe. "If approved, it would allow the administrators to start the process of restructuring the business. Flybe's licence currently remains suspended in accordance with the undertakings given by the administrators," she said.
The airline ceased trading on January 28, 2023, for the second time in three years. It relaunched operations on April 13, 2022, following the collapse of flybe. (2002) on March 4, 2020.
The Sunday Telegraph reported that Air France (AF, Paris CDG) and Lufthansa (LH, Frankfurt International) were talking to the administrators to acquire the airline to get their hands on its slots at London Heathrow and Amsterdam Schiphol.
