Just hot off the press form the Flybe website.
"Flybe. announces 7 new routes, 430,000 extra seats at Birmingham International Airport
25th October 2004
Flybe., Europe’s third largest low cost airline today announces seven new European routes from Birmingham International Airport, adding 430,000 seats into the market, taking its total seat capacity at Birmingham to two million seats. This consolidates flybe’s position as Birmingham’s largest single scheduled carrier.
Simultaneously flybe. is announcing that it will deploy its first ever 150 seat jet capacity – Boeing 737-300’s – to fly these routes from Birmingham. This confirms Birmingham as a major centre of operation for flybe.
Flybe. will offer these new services from Birmingham to Alicante, Malaga, Murcia, Faro, Palma, Almeria and Geneva. With prices starting from £39 all inclusive, tickets are on sale today at
www.flybe.com (except Geneva which will be on sale in late June 2005). Flights to Spain and Portugal begin in March 2005.
The new routes follow hot on the heels of flybe.’s recent announcement of new French routes, and the addition of Liverpool John Lennon airport to its network of UK bases. This follows flybe.’s most successful year to date with the recent announcement of provisional profit figures for the financial year 2003/2004 of £3.1m.
Flybe.’s move is part of its ongoing commitment to providing an unrivalled low cost airline service to all the major regional population centres of the UK. The Midlands is a buoyant regional economy which flybe. expansion should help to grow further. Flybe. thanks Birmingham International Airport and the wider Midlands business community for the work done to aid with its aggressive expansion plans in the region.
The launch of the new routes out of Birmingham are part of flybe.’s ambitious summer schedule for 2005/6 which will be announced later this year and forms part of the airline’s overall strategy of continued investment and expansion of both its domestic and international route network.
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Mike Rutter, Sales and Marketing Director, flybe., commented: ‘Opening up the gateway to Europe for flyers in the Midlands has always been a priority for us, and we are delighted to announce our plans today. It’s good news for the local economy, and also a great new way for people in the Midlands to access mainland Europe for business or leisure. Whilst many of our competitors are route cutting and retrenching back to London, flybe. is expanding in the regions and is committed to bringing flights to your door.
‘As a result of these announcements CBI figures suggest that 430 jobs will be created in the Midlands economy, of which 25 will be created directly at flybe.’
Flybe. has always been committed to Birmingham and the Midlands, which is witnessed by its recent announcement of the largest sports sponsorship deal in Midlands history as it extended its deal as major club sponsor with Birmingham City, by a further two years to 2007.
‘With Birmingham now fully integrated into flybe.’s European network we’re going to be looking at adding more routes and more capacity over time – increased competition in the marketplace can only be good news for travellers from the Midlands. Flybe. will seek to add up to a further three 737’s over the next 24 months.
‘Birmingham International Airport has made this partnership possible, and we would like to acknowledge the efforts made by the BIA business development team to make these routes possible.’
Peter Vella, BIA’s Business Development Director said, “Flybe. has been an important part of the Airport’s development and success over the past 10 years and we are therefore delighted that it has decided to expand its Birmingham base in this way. The news not only demonstrates confidence in BIA, but also in the region, helping to create new jobs, support inward tourism, and offer Midlands' business and leisure travellers even more choice from Birmingham."