https://news.sky.com/story/brexit-an...RmASRB9NvnrcS8

Ah yes, good spot! Cheers

Which would mean Flybe and the bulk of regional flying in the UK will be dead as IAG only care about London and Dublin.

If these other operators really want it, and evidently that is not a strong 'want' as a deal has not been done up til now, why would they not let it fold and pick up the bits that are valuable piecemeal?

Stobart Group might well return to bid again, but they may be distracted by the legal shenanigans with Andrew Tinkler. It would be a great shame to see flyBE go to the wall; I hope that someone with a viable business plan can step in.

Could this be an opportunity for BMI Regional to grow, replace the ageing E135's & 145's and up their operation a gear? They have been rumoured to be interested in bigger aircraft for some time. The 175's could be deployed on European routes, Dash8's on shorter routes making some of their shorter routes more economical, then cherry pick the current BE routes that actually make money and continue them as they are. They could also do with the crews as well!

From a regional flying perspective there certainly needs to be some streamlining, with BA Cityflyer, Cityjet, Stobart, BMI Regional, Loganair and Eastern Airways, and on a smaller scale Blue Islands and Aurigny

It would give IAG a stranglehold on the UK domestic market, eliminate competition at LCY and LHR and be a great feeder network.

Virgin would be another option but I think they have bigger fish to fry.

CityJet? I know they've changed focus but Flybe might be helpful for them.

Which leaves BMI/Loganair which would be delightful. I've posted my thoughts on their spat earlier.

Much as I would love IAG to buy Flybe, I really don't think it would happen.

I think though if IAG were interested they could make money by operating under the BA branding. The planes are similar in size to the BA Cityflyer ones, albeit, turboprops rather than jets. The could ditch some of the loss making routes and use the planes to expand at London City, whilst keeping the more profitable ones.

The market has changed a lot since BA exited BA Connect. At that time the low cost carriers were a novelty and price alone was the prime focus. Now the novelty has worn off and it is not all about the lowest cost anymore. Some of the customers are willing to pay a bit more for a perceived better service. Many people will have been introduce to flying by low cost carriers, but as they have got a bit older and better off they are willing to pay a bit more. BA can offer a more upmarket image, internationally known brand, a global alliance, a frequent flyer scheme and a much wider marketing platform through the BA website.

An ideal scenario would be a partnership between Stobart and IAG buying flybe, and flying under the BA brand, but making use of Stobart's experience of operating turboprops.

Unfortunately though I just can't see IAG being interested.

All very sad but many saw this coming months ago and yet Flybe have seemed incapable of taking effective action to prevent what is looking like the inevitable

IAG it, rebrand to Aer Lingus Regional, EI register the fleet, switch out the fault plagued E195s with more reliable same type, get a bond away to refinance debt, tax domicile the lot from Ireland to realise aggressive corporate tax regime savings, gives staff security, gives it a good fighting chance to pull it out of the fire. Move all IT onto EI estate, decommission all BE IT, crystallize those IT savings immediately. All M&A 101 basics, need to squeeze minimum 20%8 total cost savings. Almost forgot, hedge fuel via IAG hedge pool.

There is also a difference in actively seeking for a merger/take over and being approached for one...