Thes planes have been grounded.

Flybys collapse, Ending its promise It's faster than road or rail.

The terminal at its headquarters in Exeter, looking like a ghost town flyby, has become Britain's first corporate casualty as the effects of the Corona virus spread to the wider economy, leaving thousands stranded on 2000 people having to say their good byes to colleagues.

This is a very devastating blow for extra for the Southwest region, but also for air connectivity in the United Kingdom as a whole.

A dreadful day for the star from the families affected.

A lot of uncertainty for passengers who have lost our their flights and also question marks is toe how and why the government let this happen.

Corona virus has ravaged global air travelers, business users stay at home and tourists avoid flying.

Some airlines telling girls passenger numbers have dropped 50%.

Today, the industry said that after $113 billion could be lost in revenues because of Corona with British Airways left Hand's a easy yet on Reiner or grounding hundreds of routes.

But flybys problems go back a long way.

It hand, or 40% of the U K's domestic flight and prided itself on connecting nine million passengers a year, of course, British towns and cities like Southampton, Exeter and Newcastle.

But it's struggled to stay competitive.

And now Corona virus has proven the final straw.

Just two months ago, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps declared he was delighted the government could step in to rescue the airline.

Today in the House of Commons, the government's message was very different.

Unfortunately, in a competitive market, companies do fail and it is not the role of government to prop them up.

But there was criticism that the government was falling short on its own commitment to level up and beast prosperity in the regions.

The company had wanted £100 million loan from government, as well as a promise to reform airport taxes and next week's budget out of 120 of flybys roots 88 or not flown by any other airline.

With insiders claiming many are vital public service for the government to be taken seriously in its pledge to level up the reasons that really does need to tak take urgent action to improve the connectivity and resilience of our transport infrastructure, not just in this region.

But in all of the United Kingdom's left behind on peripheral regions, flybys demand heaps more pressure on the new chancellor, who was hoping to make leveling up the centerpiece of next week's budget.

Lots to get on with.

Thanks very much.

He was going to be the good news chancellor.

Launching the biggest investment spendings free and 40 years and rewarding labor convert ese.

But three weeks into the job and Richie Cenac has found himself with an embarrassing failure on his hands on a global economic crisis.

Knocking on the door this week, the government said that one and five people may have to stay home from work today.

HSBC the latest ask employees to work remotely.

With companies across most industries bracing themselves for a supply train shock, many are hoping for emergency measures governments need to step in.

They need to cut taxes and to spend more particularly targeted spending to help businesses and individuals who might be adversely affected by the current virus.

Some economists believe that inside the Treasury, the dusting off battle plans from the 2000 and eight financial crisis, including offering loan guarantees and pausing company tax bills the package could be worth £5 billion in a budget that is already testing the limits of the government's own spending rules.

That will come too late for flyby.

But it's unlikely to be the last corporate failure brought on by the mounting impact of the Corona virus.

In the chaos dreams of solving Britain's deep seated economic inequalities risk being grounded too well.

Some regional airports have been hit particularly hard by the demise of flyby at airports like Southampton and Cardiff.

It was responsible for the vast majority of business.

Our reporter annual pop is a Belfast George Best City airport where flyby was responsible for 77% of the flights.

And you're a big blow there.

Oh yeah, the roots that flyby often did, where the ones in poorly connected areas and gnome?

Or is that a parent than here in Northern Ireland, where the only way to get to the rest of you, kay with any speed is by air?

Politicians here point out that overnight they've lost 25% of connectivity by the air on at this airport in central Belfast, ground staff have been milling around all day in an almost empty airport.

82 flyby flights were meant to leave here today.

The chief executive here said he was unsurprised that the Corona virus that has such a devastating effect on an already weakened airline.

He said last month in February they had already noticed a 9% drop in passengers, which they put down to the Corona virus.

Obviously this month, after today's news into notice, even Maur, they said that the government needs to take action if they're serious about helping the regions.

For Northern Ireland, regional connectivity is absolutely vital.

You cannot do a day's business by any other means in air travel.

So I spoke this morning to our first deputy first minister, has spoken their secretary of state on have emphasized that it is absolutely vital that the government moved on air passenger Judy to stabilize the industry under make sure regional connectivity is minty in, of course, when an airline goes under a whole region is effective.

We spoke to somebody in the hospitality industry that said businesses had already been canceling conferences after the warning shots from flyby in January because of fear that what happened today would happen and that they wouldn't be able to get here of the businesses like the construction industry, which rely on connectivity to the rest of the UK, said they'd already been under pressure in the last year or so with Brexit on the particular problems that causes here for Northern Ireland.

We've got Corona virus with a whole series of all their challenges.

And then on top of that, we have 25% of our collectivity with the rest of the UK lost overnight.

This government, as promised in our separation between here and the rest of the U.

K.

The Sarah Lane is our bridge.

This is our motorway.

This is our reeling.

We don't have any of those other connections.

Well, some good news here.

Two of the routes that flyby we're serving have already been stepped in by another airline on the chief executive here says have been working on with other airlines in the recent months to try and make sure that they're not without these roots for very long.

And he says he hopes to announce more in the coming weeks, and with that, he hopes some of the jobs that have been lost here today we'll come back to the area.

Thanks very much on you.

But early I spoke to Brian Stratton from the British Airline Pilots Association, and I put it him that surely the collapse of flyby was somewhat inevitable.

I don't accept that.

Actually, I know that some other people in the industry have said that almost trying to force fly be out of business sadly, but I don't see it that way.

And in January the government didn't see it that way, either.

The government said there's enough of, ah, business proposition, an important one for the country that we would help to make.

Flyby survived, but they've done a U turn since then, which his wife flybys gone into administration.

Do you think the government should have thrown more money at the airline?

No, they didn't need throw money at it.

What they said in January was that they would support a competitive loan on they would help with air passenger duty, which is the special tax that airlines have to pay.

That would have been sufficient, I think, to keep the owners putting their money into the into the flyby.

Potter's well, that would've been good enough to keep flyby operating that a new business plan Lee could have followed.

I really would like to know why the government changed its mind, so that's interesting.

Having decided to help the airline controversially at the end of last year, they basically not here to help you.

Now I'll have the airline now.

What do you think motivated them to change their mind?

I don't know.

I think they've sort of tried to pin that on the effect of the Corona virus.

But I'm looking at the change in the senior ministers that were involved has been a change of chancellor between those two.

Those two events has been a change of business secretary between those two events.

Maybe it's more to do with that than it is to do with anything else.

But I think we do need to have the answers because one day government's going to support flyby because this regional connectivity is important to the economy.

Another day.

No, we're not.

We're walking away from it.

But considering the fact that all other airlines at the moment with this Corona virus are struggling, why should the government at this stage helped flyby?

Well, I think that a couple of reasons.

Really.

First and foremost is the reason the government gave itself, which is their important public service routes.

That flyby operates that no other way that anybody can provide the transport for that flyby supports a number of regional airports.

Airports like Cardiff, Southampton, Belle Far City Exit really are virtually a ll flyby on.

There will be no connective ity without without them in place, I think also as well.

All industry is going to be looking at the effects this summer.

I know that in a aviation a number of airlines already taken cross cutting steps on dhe flyby could have done the same.

There's no reason have survived.

It's also possible.

Is it known that if the government had decided to help flyby again in these more dire straits than they were the end of last year than other airlines like Virgin and British Airways could say, Well, hang on.

What about us?

We're also losing passengers and market share because of this virus, and they can't help everyone.

Uh, what?

No, they can't.

But what what government was looking at was not giving a three cash hand out to fly a B, but arranging a commercial loan relaxing air passenger duty on dhe.

Actually, every single line has Osh pass for the same relax ation of a passenger duty.

My point is that there was plenty there that could have bean done viably to keep flyby going, or at least substantial parts off it.

And why wasn't that looked at when government was changing its mind about the general support company?

So let me ask you, finally, Brian, do you think there's a conspiracy here between some of the other airlines?

Fly these competitors on the government to basically sacrifice you on the altar off this virus on dhe, indeed, a business in trouble in order to get over get hold of some of these roots themselves?

Well, I don't have any evidence of a conspiracy as such, but it is interesting that other airlines were coming out publicly, saying that flyby should go under threatening to challenge the government's decision that it made in January.

And then the government does a U turn on me.

But you're agreeing with a proposition.

No, right, but rather than guesswork, I think we should have answers.

And I think government should explain why it changed its mind.

Brian Starting.

Thank you very much indeed.

Thank you.