Hundreds of flights have been cancelled following the sale of British Airways' (BA) regional subsidiary, BA Connect, to no-frills airline Flybe.
Passengers expecting to fly from the affected airports, including Manchester, Glasgow and Birmingham, will be offered alternative flights with Flybe or BA Mainline or offered the choice of a full refund.
BA apologised in a statement for any inconvenience caused, adding that the cancelled routes were "substantial loss makers for the current BA Connect business" which needed to be sold in order to "protect the ongoing viability of the business".
The sale of its regional services comes one month after BA announced a fall in quarterly profits and cabin crew strikes led to flight disruptions.
Post-acquisition Flybe will become Europe's largest regional airline, offering 152 routes to 36 European destinations from more UK airports than any other carrier.
Commenting on the acquisition, Jim French, chairman and chief executive of the Exeter-based airline Flybe, said: "The acquisition of BA Connect gives us critical mass across our domestic and European city markets and, with valuable slots at congested European airports, brings our growth plans forward by two years. Flybe is now firmly established as one of the UK's largest airlines."
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