The government is "working very hard" to save airline Flybe from going under, the prime minister has said.
A cut on air passenger duty is reportedly being considered by chancellor Sajid Javid in a bid to bring the airline back from the brink of collapse.
There are fears that up to 2,000 jobs could be at risk across the UK if it was to collapse.
Flybe, the largest regional airline in Europe, has put accountancy firm EY on standby in the event of the worst case scenario.
If the firm collapses, it would be the second UK airline to fail in four months, after Thomas Cook went bust in September.
Prime minister Boris Johnson said the government would "do what we can" but warned that there are "limits".
This company's estimated air passenger duty (APD) bill for three years stands at of £106n.
Mr Javid will be meeting with the business and transport secretaries to discuss whether its APD payment can be deferred - or whether the tax should be cut for all domestic flights.
Passengers on domestic flights pay £26 in APD for a return trip, with higher rates for longer flights and premium cabins.
Airlines claim the tax restricts connectivity and passenger growth.
However, Labour's shadow chancellor John McDonnell claimed a tax cut was "not the way forward" and urged the government to work with the company and unions and look at "targeted assistance to support routes judged on economic, environmental and social grounds" instead.
Mr Johnson told the BBC: "It's not for government to step in and save companies that simply run into trouble - but be in no doubt that we see the importance of Flybe in delivering connectivity across the whole United Kingdom.
"It's very important, for instance, where I was yesterday in Northern Ireland, and we're working very hard.
"I can't go into commercially confidential discussions.
"We're working very hard to do what we can, but obviously people will understand that there are limits, commercially, to what a government can do to rescue any particular firm.
"But what we will do is ensure that we have the regional connectivity that this country needs."
Flybe began operating 41 years ago and handles more than half of the UK's domestic flights outside of London.
It flies from Manchester Airport to Aberdeen, Inverness, Edinburgh, Exeter, Jersey, the Isle of Man, Newquay, Belfast City and Southampton, as well as a host of European routes.
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