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More than 1,300 Flybe staff who have lost their jobs could also lose their pensions, it has emerged.

Workers risk suffering a big shortfall in old age because the money saved for their retirement is not protected.

Former staff will also be affected. Members of the pension fund are among 2,400 stunned staff to have lost their jobs after the airline collapsed.

Their plight contrasts sharply with Flybe’s wealthy owners, which include Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Atlantic, 69, and a US hedge fund.

They are among well-off investors likely to recover money from Flybe going into administration this week. Pension schemes are usually guarded by the Pension Protection Fund, which comes to the rescue when firms go to the wall.

(Image: PA)

But Flybe’s scheme isn’t protected because it is registered in the Isle of Man tax haven. It had a £11.6million shortfall in November 2018.

Sir Steve Webb, a former pensions minister, said: “The PPF is like car insurance – if you don’t pay, you can’t claim.

“It is a devastating blow to Flybe workers not only to lose their jobs but, potentially, part of their pensions as well.”

Virgin Atlantic, Cyrus Capital and the Stobart Group are among creditors which are most likely to get back a chunk of their investment.

Cyrus Capital is a £3billion hedge fund run by mega-rich Stephen Freid­heim, 55, who reportedly splashed out £20million on a two-storey penthouse in Manhattan.

The European boss of Cyrus is old-Etonian Lucien Farrell, 45, who is based at the firm’s Mayfair office in London.

A Virgin Atlantic spokesman said: “The consortium has invested more than £135million to keep the airline flying for an extra year, maintaining 2,400 people in employment and ensuring customers could keep travelling.”