Scotland's biggest airline collapses

Flyglobespan, Scotland's biggest airline, has this evening collapsed with hundreds of jobs likely to be lost.

Flyglobespan, Scotland's biggest airline, has this evening collapsed with hundreds of jobs likely to be lost.

The group, which has persistently denied stories written by the Independent that was in financial peril, has had its licence to operate revoked by the Civil Aviation Authority, the airline industry regulator.

The group confirmed that it entered into voluntary administration this afternoon.

PricewaterhouseCoopers, the accountants, has been appointed as administrator to the collapsed airline, which is run by Tom Dalrymple, one of Scotland’s wealthiest men.

It's believed that Globespan, which was spared administration at the 11th hour last month, failed to receive payments from Halcyon Investments, a Jersey-based special purpose vehicle.

It is understood the payment was linked to funds owed to the airline by E-Clear, a credit-card processing firm.

Globespan Group, which was founded in 1970, has around 900 staff and operates a fleet of more than 10 planes primarily from Scottish airports to destinations such as Alicante in Spain and Orlando in the US.

The firm also operates baggage and check-in facilities for rival budget airline FlyBe at Glasgow and Edinburgh airports. And last year the company won contracts from the Ministry of Defence to fly to the Falkland Islands and Qatar from RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire.

Last month the group staved off collapse with a last-ditch cash injection

Administrators were lined up to handle the airline's collapse but directors at Globespan Group managed to secure new funding at the 11th hour.