As a low-cost regional airline, Flybe was “operating in a very competitive and price sensitive market, and it was vulnerable to rising costs,” said Lucy Budd, professor of Air Transport Management at De Montfort University, in an email on Thursday.

Mr. Braithwaite added: “Flybe ran out of options and ran out time.” He warned that Flybe might have been the first airline whose collapse was sped up by the virus, but that it wouldn’t be the last.



The carrier’s financial problems go back at least to October 2018, when it issued a profit warning based on projections of weaker demand. Its shares fell by about a third, as analysts pointed to increasing competition with budget carriers like Ryanair and uncertainty leading up to Britain’s departure from the European Union. Brexit was widely considered to be a factor in last year’s collapse of Thomas Cook, the British travel agency.

Flybe’s prospects briefly brightened a year ago when it was bought for 2.2 million pounds ($2.8 million) by Richard Branson’s carrier, Virgin Atlantic, and its partners, Stobart Group and Cyrus Capital.

But financial problems continued, and the British government announced this year that it was exploring options that could lead to its recovery, including adjustments to the Air Passenger Duty, a tax paid by plane operators.

In January, Sajid Javid, then chancellor of the Exchequer, said the government would take new measures to support connectivity across Britain.

“I welcome Flybe’s confirmation that they will continue to operate as normal, safeguarding jobs in U.K. and ensuring flights continue to serve communities across the whole of the U.K.,” he said in a statement at the time.

But the measures received a lukewarm response from Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

“It’s not for government to step in and save companies that simply run into trouble,” he told the BBC in January, “but be in no doubt that we see the importance of Flybe in delivering connectivity across the whole United Kingdom.”