Flybe Group, Europe’s biggest regional airline, has appointed Christine Ourmieres-Widener as CEO. She succeeds Saad Hammad, who stood down in October, after struggling to increase earnings.

Shares in Flybe Group slumped more than 20% yesterday after the British budget airline said it would break even before tax in its financial year, ending in March, after a fall in third-quarter passenger revenue.

Flybe Group, Europe’s largest independent regional airline, will add routes between London City Airport and destinations in the UK and Ireland in a push to attract business travellers.

Ryanair is offering Flybe Group €100m and use of Aer Lingus’s brand name for three years in a bid to secure EU consent to complete its €800m takeover of the national airline.