BELFAST City Airport last night predicted further route announcements would be made in the "coming days and weeks" as attempts are made to fill the void left by the sudden collapse of Flybe.
Scottish airline Loganair was the first airline to act on the news about the administration-hit carrier yesterday, confirming it was taking over the routes to Aberdeen and Inverness.
It came just hours after airport chief executive Brian Ambrose insisted there was no threat to the future of Belfast City Airport, despite almost 80 per cent of its routes operated by Flybe.
All the carrier's flights, including those on the 14 routes from Belfast City Airport, were cancelled yesterday after the company went into administration - putting 2,000 jobs at risk across the UK.
The airline announced in the early hours of yesterday it had ceased trading with immediate effect and administrators had been appointed.
Crisis talks had been held throughout Wednesday to try to secure a rescue package, but no deal was agreed.
Final flights were either grounded minutes before take-off or diverted to the nearest airport in mid-air so the planes could be impounded.
A Belfast-bound flight out of Manchester was believed to be one of the last flights by the carrier. After sitting on the runway in Manchester for almost three hours, it eventually arrived in Belfast just after midnight yesterday.
In a statement, Flybe chief executive Mark Anderson said the company had made "every possible attempt" to avoid collapse but had been "unable to overcome significant funding challenges".
At Belfast City Airport yesterday morning, there were no passengers at the normally busy Flybe check-in desks.
Travellers had been sent texts in the early hours informing them of cancellations.
But there was a glimmer of hope by early afternoon with the announcement from Loganair that it was to take over two routes, Aberdeen and Inverness, from later this month.
The airline will be taking up 16 former Flybe routes across the UK and opened a special recruitment line for former Flybe employees.
Mr Ambrose said "a number of airlines" have expressed interest in taking over its routes affected by the collapse.
"We are pleased to announce that our current airline partner Loganair has confirmed it will commence daily services from Belfast City Airport to both Aberdeen and Inverness," he said.
"These are two of the popular destinations that were previously operated by Flybe.
"Loganair will commence flights from Belfast City Airport to Aberdeen on 16th March 2020, and flights to Inverness will begin on 23rd March 2020.
"We’re very happy that Loganair has been able to backfill these routes less than 24 hours after Flybe entered administration.
"There remains a strong demand for the network operated by Flybe and we expect further announcements from airlines in the coming days and weeks."
Stormont Economy Minister Diane Dodds also visited the airport yesterday and insisted: "Maintaining air connectivity is absolutely vital to Northern Ireland - to enable access to the economic market in Great Britain and for tourists arriving to our airports from Great Britain and beyond".
She said she would continue to lobby government ministers to highlight the need to restore routes to and from the airport.
Colin Neill from Hospitality Ulster said: "The regional connectivity that Flybe offered was vitally important to tourism and our wider hospitality sector here, without it there will be a huge impact on visitor access.
"The knock-on effect of fewer visitors and tourists means that this sounds alarm for our pubs, restaurants and hotels at a time when coronavirus is compounding the sector's problems."
