Emergency talks held to save Flybe from collapse

The government has stepped in to save Flybe, Europe’s largest regional carrier, from collapse with emergency talks due to take place today.

Sajid Javid,  the chancellor, and the business and transport departments are thrashing out a plan to save the plane giant.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has told the BBC there is “no doubt” about the importance of regional airline Flybe.

Lord Adonis, the former Labour secretary of state for transport, says it is not in the public interest to scrap air passenger duty to help Flybe stay afloat.

“Air passenger duty is a green tax, it raises £3.5bn per year, it’s vital for funding public services at large, and any responsible minister would need to face the fact if that £3.5bn isn’t paid by air passengers, who as I say, create environmental costs, then it has to be paid by general taxpayers, maybe including businesses, in other ways.”