A Leighton Buzzard based flight simulator company is being forced to cease trading at the end of the month due to sustained financial losses.
Fly A Flight, which is based at Leighton Buzzard Garden Centre and set up by Mark Lowen has been trading for 14 years and provided customers with experience of flying in simulators of aircraft including a Boeing 737, Spitfire and Messerschmitt. In a statement Fly A Flight cited ‘recent Government policies’ as a factor in them making the ‘very difficult decision to close the business.’
“Recent Government policies have made it almost impossible for businesses to survive,” they wrote. “This has lead to sustained financial losses, reduced bookings and rising costs meaning the business is no longer viable. This is a decision that we have not taken lightly and one we make with real sadness. We have looked at every possible avenue to recover the business but to no avail. This is not the outcome we wanted but a reality we now have to face.”
In the days leading up to the closure, the business had tried to help a number of customers who had unused experience vouchers. One said: “After receiving the email from the liquidator last Tuesday, I fully expected to be £75 out of pocket – the cost of my father-in-law’s birthday gift. But I emailed Fly A Flight on Wednesday and was fitted in for a simulator slot on Friday morning. It was very good of Mark to try to honour as many vouchers as he could before the end of January. My father-in-law really enjoyed flying a 737.”
The company which received more than 1,000 five-star reviews on TripAdvisor, is ending trading today (Friday 30 January). Fly A Flight has been approached for a comment but has not yet responded. However, on social media it advised anyone with a voucher from a third party such as Buyagift, Red Letter Days, Into the Blue, Virgin Experience of Groupon, to contact those third parties direct. Anyone with a Fly A Flight voucher will receive a letter from the liquidator in February giving the option for a possible charge back from the purchasing card. It added: “We are unable to issue refunds direct as we no longer have control of the bank.”
The LBO has seen a letter sent to all known creditors confirming that Fly A Flight’s board of directors decided to commence liquidation proceedings.
Gary Rupping and Andrew McTear of McTear Williams & Wood have been appointed joint liquidators. The LBO understands there are more than 200 consumer creditors and in one case a consumer creditor is owed money or services valued at more than £1,000.
Leighton Buzzard Observer
30 January 2026