Flybe failure hits Spanish Company Ferrovial which Manages Three UK Airports

IT is not just travellers to Spain who will lose out by regional airline Flybe going into administration but Spanish multinational group Ferrovial will also suffer financial losses by this decision.

Whilst Administrators are trying to find buyers for either the entire Flybe business or liquidate its assets, all flights have been grounded and both passengers and its 2,400 staff have been ‘left in the air’.

Ferrovial some time ago entered into a joint venture with Australian financial group Macquarie to form a company known as AGS Airports and they manage a number of UK airports which were used by Flybe.

The two company’s paid Heathrow Airport Holdings (which is itself owned 25 per cent by Ferrovial) more than £1 (€1.15) billion in 2014 to take over the management of Aberdeen, Glasgow and Southampton airports.

Although Flybe didn’t operate many flights out of Glasgow, in 2019 according to Cirium data, it accounted for 36 per cent of the capacity of Aberdeen airport and a huge 95 per cent of Southampton airport departures and arrivals with flights targeting Alicante, Malaga and Mallorca.

These airports had already taken a hit with the loss of Thomas Cook airline and traffic had fallen by nearly 8 per cent along with revenue so this latest news is not encouraging.

At the end of 2019, AGS reported that it had debts of £693 (€796) million and an operating profit of £94 (€108 million) so it is now imperative that it tries to attract new airlines to Southampton in particular or there could be serious financial implications.

Written by

John Smith

Married to Ophelia in Gibraltar in 1978, John has spent much of his life travelling on security print and minting business and visited every continent except Antarctica. Having retired several years ago, the couple moved to their house in Estepona and John became a regular news writer for the EWN Media Group taking particular interest in Finance, Gibraltar and Costa del Sol Social Scene. Currently he is acting as Editorial Consultant for the paper helping to shape its future development. Share your story with us by emailing newsdesk@euroweeklynews.com, by calling +34 951 38 61 61 or by messaging our Facebook page www.facebook.com/EuroWeeklyNews

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