Originally Posted by
Rivet Joint
Does anyone know if they have stopped painting their aircraft into the new scheme? Still plenty of q400s in the old scheme, not to mention all the 175s. Some q400s are still in the Brussels airways scheme as well. Rebrand was years ago wasn’t it? It’s not like they have any new aircraft on order either.
Originally Posted by
airsouthwest
Some Q400s are leaving supposedly, others are waiting until Cor D checks to be repainted. The E175s are all fairly new so won't get painted until their first D checks is my guess,sounds bad, but Flybe can't afford to take an aircraft out of service for 3 days to get repainted.
The Q400s should be staying in the fleet now, the leases were extended. Unless G-ECOI and G-ECOK head back to Brussels I would anticipate seeing those painted this winter along with some others such as G-JECP which will return to service in September/October. Although with the change in branding and the removal of the Yellow and Red I'd expect to see a revised scheme - which along with it being summer and aircraft not typically painted in the summer months, may also be a reason for a lack of repaints recently. They'd only be done as and when required; Flybe don't have the 'spare cash' to throw around repainting aircraft unnecessarily and as Airsouthwest says... a repaint will take the best part of a week, Flybe don't have the slack in their operation for that in the summer.
"Flybe Group plc is pleased to announce that today Flybe Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary, signed an agreement with GOAL German Operating Aircraft Leasing GmbH & Co. KG ("GOAL") (the "Agreement") to extend the leases of five Bombardier Q400 turboprop aircraft, which were otherwise due to expire between August 2018 and January 2019. Flybe will extend the leases on these aircraft with the last aircraft to expire in 2024 for a net cash consideration of $24.3m payable over the term of the leases. The lease extension provides Flybe Limited with immediate benefits, including significantly reduced lease rental payments and reduced cash security deposit requirements."
Deal effects: G-ECOF, G-ECOH, G-ECOI, G-ECOK, G-ECOO according to Planespotters.net Flybe Fleet
The four Embraer E175 aircraft due for delivery in 2019 would likely be the first E175s in purple.
According to Jethro's, 30 out of the 54 Q400s are in Purple so more than half.