Flybe 'will not survive' until the end of the month amid coronavirus fears

Flybe has informed the government that it is running out of cash and will not survive until the end of the month.

The airline, which requested an emergency taxpayer loan of £100m in January, has been hit by the general slump in flight bookings since the coronavirus outbreak began.

Flybe has told the government that the situation is “urgent” and that it requires a decision on the loan “in the coming days”.

The owners of the business - Virgin Atlantic, Cyrus Capital and Stobart Group - have previously indicated that without state aid Flybe will be placed in administration.

Flybe employs 2500 staff and carried 8 million passengers last year. 40% of its flights were UK domestic. The airline’s biggest operations are at Exeter, Manchester and Birmingham airports.

A source close to the airline said: “The impact of Covid 19 has made a difficult situation worse."

No one from the government was available for comment.