The new owner of Flybe is attempting to recover tens of millions of pounds from passenger payments held by credit card firms as collateral in case the airline failed.
Virgin Atlantic and Stobart Group-backed Connect Airways is trying to recoup the cash from credit card companies that process payments for the regional carrier that was rescued Flybe in March, according to the Financial Times
A cash crunch at Flybe in the months before its takeover was exacerbated when credit card companies processing bookings for future flights started retaining significantly more of that cash as security because of Flybe’s increasingly precarious position.
That “materially and rapidly weakened” Flybe’s unrestricted cash position, Stobart Group said at the time.
Connect Airways paid just £2.2 million for Flybe and pledged to inject as much as £100 million into the regional carrier to keep it in the air.
More: Virgin Atlantic consortium swoops to rescue Flybe
