Eastern Airways has officially entered administration, two weeks after it ceased operations.
Most of the airline’s 350 employees were made redundant last week but sufficient staff have been retained to maintain the fleet while they sought to rescue some or all of Eastern’s operations.
Administrators said that, after a contract to operate services for Dutch airline KLM was ended, the carrier had been left with unsustainable high costs.
Joint administrator RSM UK Restructuring Advisory said Eastern Airways had operated four aircraft for KLM Cityhopper in Europe, but, when this contract was terminated, it had left Eastern with ‘high fixed overheads and a staff base that has ultimately proved too high to be sustainable’.
Administrator Jamie Miller from RSM said: “It is extremely sad that such a long established and historically successful independent airline, one of the few remaining in the UK, has had to enter administration.
“The unexpected and sudden termination of Eastern’s KLM contract, along with other economic factors, unfortunately left the directors with no choice but to appoint administrators.
“At its peak, Eastern was an award-winning airline providing 200 flights per day. Its passengers included Queen Elizabeth and other members of the Royal Family, as well as Prime Ministers, Premier League Football Clubs and Formula 1 Teams and management.
“They also provided valuable services on public service obligation (PSO) routes and supported energy critical services to the oil and gas sector.
“We would welcome any interest from potential alternative operators, or those who may have an interest in the underlying assets.”
He added: “For those staff not retained, we will provide every assistance to them to ensure they successfully claim their entitlements from the Redundancy Payments Service.”
The Civil Aviation Authority said: “Following the recent suspension of operations, we can confirm that Eastern Airways has sadly entered administration.”
Eastern Airways ceased trading at lunchtime on 27 October 2025 after 28 years in service.
The airline, based in Humberside Airport, North Lincolnshire, operated three routes from Aberdeen, to Teeside, Humberside and Wick. The Wick route was supported by the Scottish Government as a Public Service Obligation (PSO) route. Eastern Airways operated another PSO route, between London Gatwick and Newquay, as well as charter flights.
