Airline Flybe has collapsed.

The official announcement was made in the early hours this morning.

People booked on flights are being told not to travel to the airport.

Ports director Ann Reynolds said she is in talks with other air operators with a view to restoring routes to Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham as soon as possible.

And she said her priority was to cover the patient transfer service to Liverpool.

One Flybe aircraft has been impounded at Ronaldsway over an unpaid invoice relating to landing fees and other charges.

Ms Reynolds said most patient transfer passengers had been contacted early this morning.

She said: 'I'm talking with a number of other airline operators with regard to the Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham routes to try and get them restored as soon as possible.

'My priority is the Liverpool route to cover the patient transfer service.'

She said she is also in talks with another airline about bringing home passengers who had travelled out on the Flybe direct flight to Geneva on Saturday and were due to return to the island this weekend.

Ms Reynolds herself had flown over to Liverpool with Flybe yesterday teatime and had been due to return with the same airline today but had to rebook with easyJet.

She described Flybe's demise as a 'very sad day'.

She said Flybe didn't make any announcement until every flight last night was back on the ground.

All Flybe flights landed as normal in the island last night. The last flight was from Liverpool, landing 10 minutes earlier than scheduled at 9pm.

A look at the airport's departures this morning is a stark illustration of how badly the Isle of Man is being affected.

Passengers here will now have many unanswered questions. We are hoping to hear from the government about any contingency measures in the morning.

All Flybe flights and those operated by Stobart Air have been cancelled.

The UK Civil Aviation Authority has issued advice to passengers who were booked on the airline.

They said if you booked directly with Flybe and paid by credit card you should contact your card issuer as you may be able to claim under the charge back rules.

This may also apply to payments by debit card.

The CAA said if you purchased travel insurance which includes cover for scheduled airline failure you should contact your insurer.

The CAA believes very few Flybe passengers are ATOL protected.

The airline's website has this message:

'Customers

'If you are due to fly with Flybe, please DO NOT TRAVEL TO THE AIRPORT unless you have arranged an alternative flight with another airline. Please note that Flybe is unfortunately not able to arrange alternative flights for passengers.

'If you have a booking sold by another airline that includes travel on a Flybe flight, please contact the relevant airline or travel agent to confirm if there is any impact to your travel plans.'

The struggling carrier narrowly avoided going bust in January. The impact of coronavirus has made a bad situation worse. It means that fewer people are flying, cutting income for the company.

Flybe had been hoping for a £100m lifeline from the UK government and changes to Air Passenger Duty taxes.

The carrier ran into difficulties last year and was bought by a consortium which includes Virgin Atlantic.

In January, the new owners said they would pump £30m into the business to keep it afloat, but appealed to the government for additional support.

While its financial problems were already apparent, a company insider told the BBC the impact of the coronavirus on the travel industry had "made a bad situation much worse".

More than 2,000 jobs are at risk.