Cyrus Capital unit buys flybe. brand, eyes 2021 restart

Thyme Opco, a company affiliated to Cyrus Capital, has acquired the brand and the remaining assets of flybe. (BE, Exeter) and plans to revive the carrier as an “essential regional connectivity” provider, administrator EY said in a press release distributed to the British media. The value of the transaction was not disclosed. It was still subject to certain confidential conditions. flybe.’s remaining assets were purely non-aviation and consisted of office equipment and the like, as well as intellectual property. The carrier’s Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC) was suspended but valid as of September 7, 2020, although the UK Civil Aviation Authority would have to reinstate its Operating Licence before the restart – the document was revoked in late April 2020. Thyme Opco said that while it was seeking to revive flybe., the carrier would be smaller than before its collapse. Still, the investor plans “to create valuable airline industry jobs, restore essential regional connectivity in the UK and contribute to the recovery of a vital part of the country’s economy”. The airline could restart in early 2021, according to the administrators. Cyrus Capital was one of the three members (alongside Virgin Atlantic and Stobart Group) of Connect Airways, a consortium which agreed to acquire flybe. in 2019 in a last-ditch attempt to rescue the loss-making carrier. However, the strategy which would see flybe. becoming a feeder for Virgin Atlantic as Virgin Connect, ultimately failed as the airline collapsed in early March 2020 as a forewarning in the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic.