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Chris Page
BBC News Ireland correspondent

Northern Ireland is particularly reliant on air links simply because of its geography.

To get to any other part of the UK from here, you have only two options - go by sea, or by air.

Local MPs stressed those circumstances in their questions in Parliament.

Stephen Farry from the Alliance Party said Northern Ireland had in effect lost 25% of its air travel capacity “overnight”.

The DUP’s Gavin Robinson - whose constituency has Belfast City Airport - said the government had been “large in ambition” for regional connectivity but “light on detail”.

The Transport Minister Kelly Tolhurst told the Commons she “absolutely recognised” Northern Ireland had specific concerns.

She pointed out that the Conservative Party manifesto contained a commitment to consider devolving short-haul Air Passenger Duty.

A report drawn up for Stormont last year said cutting APD would probably enhance Northern Ireland’s aviation connections - but would be unlikely to deliver value for money.

Passengers have been urged to keep an eye on the Civil Aviation Authority website.

Stephen and Zarathe Jenkins were among just a handful of passengers passing through Southampton earlier, thankful that their flight was booked through Aurigny and not Flybe.

Mrs Jenkins said: "I just think it's awful. It's not just the impact it has for all the employees at Flybe but it's the knock-on effect for all the regional airports across the country.

"We've flown Flybe to Jersey a good few times and you feel for everybody involved.

"I was made redundant last year and my husband was made redundant the year before and it's a really scary prospect but thankfully we both came out of it OK.

"We both found other jobs but I guess jobs within the airline industry are going to be more specific and it's not as easy to pick up another airline to go and work for. I wish them luck."

Image source, Getty Images

Flybe passengers have been told to be alert for scams when trying to get refunds, as other airlines such as Easyjet and railway companies such as LNER offer help.

But other offers of help may not be all they seem.

Citizens Advice's senior consumer expert Jan Carton said: "Unfortunately we've found that, in these situations, scammers quickly jump on the bandwagon.

"If you're a Flybe customer and you're contacted by someone offering to act for you to recover your money it's more than likely to be a scam. Flybe customers who bought tickets directly from the company won't be protected by the Atol scheme.

"However, if you went through a travel agent or other third party you may be covered. Some people may be able to get their money back if they paid by credit card.

"If people have accommodation booked, they should check the terms and conditions to see if they can get a refund. If they can afford to pay for another flight, it's also worth checking if they can alter the dates."

We've had a number of questions to the Business Live page from concerned readers who booked flights through airlines who partner with Flybe.

Will those airlines still honour the tickets?

We asked our personal finance reporters. They said if you booked the tickets through the partner airlines, they must get you from the starting airport of your trip to your destination airport.

The Aviation Minister Kelly Tolhurst has said the government “stands ready” to support the aviation sector following Flybe’s collapse.

In a Commons statement, she said she was “acutely aware” of the impact the the collapse would have on regional airports throughout the country.

“Unfortunately in a competitive market, companies do fail” she said.

And it is “not the role of government to prop them up.”

But she said the government had been “absolutely working hard” to secure the airline’s future, and had been “working tirelessly” to find a solution. She added: “This is not where I as the aviation minister wanted to be with Flybe.”

And she stressed that the government was “determined” to deliver on its promises to the country on “levelling up” and “making sure regional connectivity and those airports remain viable.”

She said the government would be working to ensure the routes were backfilled, noting that Loganair had already committed to keeping 16 Flybe routes going.

Image source, Getty Images

Andy McDonald MP, Labour’s Shadow Transport Secretary, says the collapse of Flybe is "disastrous news for passengers and employees alike and will cause real anxiety in many regions throughout the country".

“The Civil Aviation Authority is sadly very well practised, following the collapse of Monarch and Thomas Cook, at responding to airline failure and looking after passengers. No doubt they will do that once more."

He added: "Flybe has provided critical connectivity for many locations throughout the country especially where there is currently no realistic transport alternative other than flying.

“The government has to answer how those vital links will be maintained following Flybe’s collapse. Communities will be concerned about what this will mean for their local economies and the Secretary of State has to come up with answers to these questions as a matter of urgency.”

Captain Ben Wing said he was unaware of the company's collapse when he landed on Wednesday night.

Simon Gompertz
BBC personal finance correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

More than a thousand pensioners and pension savers are waiting anxiously to find out if their pensions are affected by the Flybe collapse.

About 1,350 are thought to be members of the British Regional Airlines Group pension scheme, which pays a pension based on final salary.

Because the pension scheme is based in the Isle of Man, it is not backed by the Pension Protection Fund which takes over stricken schemes in the UK.

The vast majority of Flybe staff were not in the final salary scheme, which had been closed to new contributions.

Many of the members are former employees of British Midland and BA regional services, though Flybe was supporting the scheme up to its collapse.

It has been reported that the BRAL scheme had a deficit of £11m and liabilities to pensioners of £170m.

The trustee board of the scheme is meeting today to review the prospects for members.

Great Western Railway has offered passengers who were supposed to be travelling with Flybe free train travel on Thursday.

The train company said people would be required to provide "reasonable evidence" of their booking to their staff.

Flybe employees who produce their staff identification would also be given free travel, the company said.

Image source, Getty Images

Apart from the people directly employed by Flybe, what happens to people whose jobs may indirectly rely on the collapsed airline?

The GMB union is concerned that firms such as Swissport may also suffer.

Robert Deavy, who leads the Scottish division of the union, said:

"We are deeply concerned about the knock-on effect from Flybe going bust to the supply chain and companies like Swissport.

"Hundreds of jobs are at risk in ground handling companies like Swissport and we need concrete action as what is a developing crisis in aviation unfolds."

Passengers needing to fly from the Isle of Man to hospital appointments in England have been left unable to attend following the collapse of Flybe.

The airline operated daily routes to Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham.

It also held the island government's patient transfer contract, taking people to and from appointments in the north west of England.

In a statement, the government said it was now "talking with other airlines" about taking over the routes.

Read more here.

Image source, Getty Images

Whether UK Flybe passengers will be able to make insurance claims for cancelled flights after the collapse of the airline will depend on their policy.

Figures from data analysis firm Defaqto suggest that nearly half of travel insurance policies - 49% - cover the collapse of an airline.

Another 19% of policies have that cover as an optional extra - you would have had to tick a box, and would probably had to pay extra, to get that cover on your policy.

That leaves about a third - 32% - of policies without that kind of cover - those people would not be able to make a claim.

But it's worth bearing in mind that if you bought on a credit card and the flight cost more than £100, the credit card firm should reimburse you for the flight.

Jennifer Meierhans
BBC News Online

We mentioned earlier on the Business Live page that LNER is offering free rail travel, but in fact a number of train operators are offering free travel to Flybe customers and staff.

Many ask people to show proof of a Flybe ticket or airline identification instead of buying a ticket.

The full list of train operators can be found here., external

Birmingham Airport is in talks with other airlines after the announcement thatFlybe has gone into administration,said a local business leader.

Henrietta Brealey from the Greater Birmingham Chamber of Commerce said the airport is "hugely important" to the economy of the West Midlands.

"We're a big exporting region - lots of multi-national companies, lots of importers - all trading around the world, so global connectivity is really important," she said.

But she described the business as being "very resilient".

"We're already hearing that they're in talks with airlines to take on routes that have been dropped by Flybe," she said.

Robert Plummer
Business reporter, BBC News

Image source, Getty Images

Although it has been around under various names for the past 40 years, Flybe was never an airline for the masses.

The number of passengers it carried pales by comparison with better-known budget carriers such as easyJet or Ryanair.

Read more here about the value of Flybe's connectivity for the UK regions.

Image source, Getty Images

Hundreds of Scottish travellers have been hit by the collapse of UK airline Flybe.

The airline operates flights to UK destinations from all of Scotland's large airports and accounts for more than a third of flights from Aberdeen.

Exeter-based Flybe went into administration after a bid for fresh financial support failed.

The owner of Aberdeen and Glasgow airport said it was a "devastating blow" for employees and travellers.

The first signs of a problem came on Wednesday evening when passengers who had boarded a flight in Glasgow bound for Birmingham had to disembark after "a fuel issue" meant the flight was cancelled.

Olympic Swimmer Hannah Miley was on the last Flybe flight to land in the UK, at Aberdeen.

"We were delayed getting on the plane to start with and then once we were on the plane the gentleman sat in front of me found out from Twitter what was happening with the company," she said.

"Then it spread throughout the plane and everyone was not sure what was happening."

Read more here.