News from the management team is that some of the funding (which is near approved, not a listing), will be to fund the 'older' larger aircraft, possibly 737 but more likely the ex easy 319's....
Not according to this morning's FlightGlobal:
UK regional carrier Flybe sees turboprops as its “default” aircraft and the “weapon of choice” in its future growth strategy, says chief executive Saad Hammad.
Aircraft such as the Bombardier Q400 and the ATR72-500s used by its Flybe Nordic subsidiary will provide the backbone for the improvement in the performance of its inter-regional UK domestic routes and for white-label opportunities to lease them to flag carriers for operation on long, thin routes, says Hammad.
This has come about because of “a structural shift in the European aviation landscape with flag carriers withdrawing from these [long, thin] routes where low-cost carriers cannot fill the void" because the equipment they use will not allow them to operate on these markets profitably, he adds.
“We want to be on the industry curve, not above it as was historically the case, and thanks to the restructuring programme we are now heading down that curve, but we are never going to be below Ryanair and easyJet,” he says.
But Hammad does not completely rule out a future for its existing Embraer 175 and 195 jets; stating that European carriers have shown an interest in leasing them which proved there was an “optionality of deployment” of the type.