Flybe cancels dozens of UK flights

UK-based airline Flybe has apologised to furious customers after cancelling dozens of flights this morning for “operational reasons”.

According to the BBC, five flights scheduled to leave today from Belfast City Airport and four from Birmingham are among those affected, along with departures from Southampton, Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Newcastle.

Passengers booked to travel on the affected flights were reportedly contacted by the airline last night, but some “expressed anger that they received texts and emails minutes before its customers services helpline closed for the day”, says Scottish newspaper The Herald.

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The airline, which operates flights across Europe and was recently bought by a Virgin-led consortium, said it wanted to “sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused”.

“All customers affected have been emailed and advised they can rebook for travel on an alternative flight or apply for a full refund,” the company said in a statement.

BBC Business Reporter Clodagh Rice notes that the cancellations “come at an interesting time for Flybe - it’s the first week of the airline’s summer schedule” and the “first new timetable since the airline was taken over last month”.

The Herald adds that the disruption “caps an embarrassing week for the airline”, which saw its flagship new Newquay to London Heathrow route “descend into chaos on Sunday when engineers were unable to fix an electrical fault with the plane”.

Passengers due to travel on the inaugural flight instead had to endure a six-hour bus ride from the Cornish airport to the capital.

City A.M. says that Flybe’s issues may be symptomatic of a wider problem in low-cost air travel for budget airlines “struggling to stay afloat at the moment”, with Icelandic no-frills airline Wow Air going out of business last week and Norwegian Air “on the brink”.