flybe.com:
Thanks for this - now I understand!
I think that flyBE's use of Q400s has allowed them to carve out a very solid niche (and I could imagine them using the aircraft to establish bases outside the UK, a la Ryanair/Easyjet) but I find it harder to see what their "unique selling point" is once they move into the 150-seat segment. Clearly there are routes (e.g. southern Spain) which stretch the 146's performance, but those longer routes are also the competitive arena for pretty much every 150-180 seat no-frills carrier around. What would differentiate flyBE in this market up against the easy/Ryan/baby/Jet2/ MyTravelLite/Monarch herd?
And yet JF has promised a decision on 150-seat aircraft by March, i.e. before the results of this summer's trial with leased-in 737s are known. I tend to agree with Snigs that waiting a year would make some sense. Unless, of course, either:
(a) "we have several candidate routes/regions for 150-seaters, and UK-Spain is not the only one, but it's the easiest to trial without tipping our hand, and even if it doesn't perform well we will be able to find other places to put 150-seaters."
or
(b) "The Walker Trust want out, so we have to bring the company to market, but at the same time maximise the price we get. And ordering 150-seaters will really position us as a player - plus it'll make the big boys like Easy sit up and wonder if they should be buying us to remove a threat."
Maybe I'll just go and doctor someone else's press releases to make those points...
