London (dpa) - British airline Flybe has entered administration and grounded all flights, the company said early on Thursday morning.
"All flights have been grounded and the UK business has ceased trading with immediate effect," the company said in a statement.
Flybe said it will not arrange alternative flights for passengers and advised them not to travel to the airport.
The company, based in Exeter in south-west England, had been struggling for months and almost folded in January.
A drop in customers amid the new coronavirus outbreak "made a difficult situation worse," an airline source told Britain's Press Association (PA).
Crisis talks were held on Wednesday, but a solution could not be reached.
Four senior employees of professional services firm Ernst Young have been appointed as joint administrators.
Flybe is the majority carrier at several regional airports across Britain including Anglesey in Wales, Aberdeen in Scotland, Manchester and Southampton in England and Belfast in Northern Ireland as well as European destinations.
The company employs over 2,000 people.
In 2019, the carrier was bought by a consortium of companies including Virgin Atlantic that said it would pour 30 million pounds (39 million dollars) into the business to keep it afloat, according to the BBC.
Flybe had also been in negotiations with the British government about receiving a 100-million-pound bailout loan, but the terms were never agreed.
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