[2] The consortium was founded by Virgin Atlantic, Stobart Aviation and Cyrus Capital Partners through its Luxembourg-based vehicle DLP Holdings.

[9] On 11 January 2019, Connect Airways made a £2.2 million cash offer to take over the entire share capital of Flybe, subject to shareholder and court approval.

[11] On 21 February 2019, Flybe Group confirmed that its operating assets, i.e. the airline and the website, had indeed been transferred to Connect Airways, despite a last-minute rival bid.

[21] In February 2020, the UK government envisaged granting Flybe a £100 million rescue loan, and held talks with the EU Commission to ensure that state aid rules were not broken.

[7] Virgin Atlantic stated that Connect Airways could "no longer commit to continued financial support" despite its investment of over £135 million, and placed part of the blame on the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Flybe's trading.