Flybe-9
If IAG are genuinely involved - and they are likely to need to say something sooner than later - then it will only be to drive up any price Virgin would have to pay. There is nothing here for IAG beyond competition issues galore at LHR and LCY.
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Sadly I doubt IAG will have the slightest interest in Flybe. They would be returning to a market where they saw massive losses as BA Regional. I also Doubt if Virgin will be interested, their entry into the short haul business was a financial disaster and relatively short lived. As the larger markets are well served by carriers with lower seat costs, there is no future here for a carrier operating expensive turboprops. So the future is likely to be in Niche markets and by definition there are not too many of these that will support mid size turbo props. I do hope Flybe survives but I fear it will shrink to do this. Good Luck.
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Whatever happens, the other UK regional carriers can pick up other profitable routes.
I very much doubt that IAG would be interested in saying something just to raise the price Virgin would have to pay or create a bidding war - it usually means a binding statement to be credible enough to raise a share price and is a dangerous game to play that rarely ends well.
On the other hand I could quite easily see IAG saying something publicly if they could get a good look at the confidential side of Flybe's books and gain good knowledge of non public info, without having to make a full bid
On the other hand I could quite easily see IAG saying something publicly if they could get a good look at the confidential side of Flybe's books and gain good knowledge of non public info, without having to make a full bid
Fair point. It’s also backed to the hilt with taxpayers money, like NQY, and yet still flybe struggle. CWL’s problem is more easyJet at BRS than BA at the other end of the GWR.
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As for BRS yes that will always be a drain on Cardiff Airport (even if APD was devolved one day) but Flybe have shown that if the flights are provided then people will use them, around 480,000 passengers (CAA stats are the source) used Flybe from CWL in 2017 and because of that there has been more positivity around CWL than negativity lately, people who i know have always used BRS have started to use CWL as well and will do so in the future and that comes from having Flybe at the airport. That is why their survival and continued operations at CWL is extremely important for the airport.
I mentioned BA because IAG own them and they are essentially their UK airline and while yes Vueling provide flights to the sun, i'm sure IAG would prefer people like me who use city routes or travel long haul to use LHR.
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Good if it were true but personally, I doubt IAG's interest. However it may be valid to consider what risk a strengthened VS, aligned with AF-KLM may pose as a threat to the IAG stable of carriers. All those potential regional passengers that IAG might lose as a result of Flybe routing them via LHR/MAN onto VS, or via CDG and AMS on AF-KLM?
On the eve of LHR getting more capacity, just perhaps IAG could consider it to be a valid investment, after all who else is likely to provide regional connectivity to new points in the UK when a third runway gets built at LHR. BACF maybe, but not at the cost of a BE DH4 they won't, and not with crew and aircraft at mutiple UK regional bases.
Last edited by JobsaGoodun; 25th Nov 2018 at 20:49.
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Sale
Just for a bit of information to give an idea of their current operation I have tried to note down the First wave of departures tomorrow morning and it makes interesting reading in parts. The usual disclaimers none more so than I can't say if it is definitive but I have used various public domain websites such as Jethro's for operational aircraft and FR24.
I found 57 departures and a maximum 75 aircraft in service (actually 69 left as I had included one DH8D not in sevice and included the Stobart 195's) of which one E175 has been at Exeter since 4 November, a Dash 8 at Exeter since 13-11 (PD), one since 18-11 (PI), one since 22-11 (OK), one at BHX since 22-11 (OR) and another at Exeter since 23-11 (DR). Up until 19.00 57 aircraft had moved today and around 3 or 4 extra yesterday. This is just Flybe mainline not Eastern or Blue Island flights or aircraft or the Stobart Southend operation.
This shows they have a lot of spare aircraft and do we know how many are owned and how many leased? This seems incredibly high even for winter which in terms of the BHX base is not particularly off-peak and in fact next week the base is back to 11 aircraft with Milan and Berlin going back to double daily on certain days for the first 3 weeks in December. Also noticeable that the jets all move regularly other than E175 "JI" which is clearly in maintenance.
For those debating what is in it for the airlines rumoured to be interested, these are tomorrow's flights - first wave only and I believe there are no overnighting mainline aircraft at Dublin, Inverness, Newcastle, Leeds, Liverpool, East Mids, Norwich, London City, Heathrow, Gatwick, Jersey, Guernsey, Amsterdam or Paris. Any additions and corrections most welcome. Formatting as usual on this site a nightmare.
Airport...….... Based Aircraft.....Time:Route…....Time:Route…....Time:Route…....Time:Route………..Time:Route
Aberdeen.........3..................…07:05 BHX...…….07:05 LHR...…..06:35 MAN...…..
Belfast City...…7...............…...07:00 BHX......…..07:15 EMA...….07:10 EDI...........07:20 GLA............06:40 LBA.
.........…........................……….06:45 LCY...……..06:50 MAN
BHX...…........10..................….06:55 AMS...…….08:00 AMS...….07:35 BHD.........07:00 DUS...….....07:00 EDI.
...........................................….07:00 GLA...…....07:15 JER...…..06:45 MXP.........06:40 CDG...…....07:20 STR......11th next week TXL 07:25
Cardiff......…...3.................……06:40 EDI.........…06:20 BHD.......07:00 DUB
Doncaster.......1......................06:50 DUB
Dusseldorf.....2.......................06:30 BHX.........…06:50 LCY
Edinburgh.......8..................….07:20 BHD...……..07:00 BHX...….07:20 EMA...…..06:35 LCY......…..07:05 LCY
..............................................06:20 LHR..........06:35 MAN......06:40 SOU.
Exeter...……...5................…….07:10 JER.........….07:00 LCY......06:40 MAN.........07:25 AGP......…..06:30 CDG
Glasgow.........4..............……..06:50 BHX......…..07:05 EMA.......06:50 MAN...…..07:00 SOU
Manchester.....6.....…...........….06:45 ABZ............06:55 AMS...….07:00 BHD........07.00 DUS.........06.10 CDG
..........................................….06:50 CDG
Newquay...…..1........................07:25 NQY
Southampton..7........................07:00 AMS...…...07:00 BHD...….06:50 DUB.........07:00 EDI...……..06:45 MAN
............................................….07:00 NCL...…...06:50 CDG
Total...……....57
Pete
Last edited by OltonPete; 26th Nov 2018 at 18:01. Reason: Add information about number of aircraft
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Disclosure of commercially sensitive information is always quite a difficult area, especially when talking to a direct competitor so I doubt the detailed base/route data would be disclosed at this stage. But then again it depends on how bad the FlyBe financials are and how desperate the management are to sell.
Backed to the hilt' is a tad disingenuous is it not? Flybe (not including franchisees) have one PSO (which any EU operator could apply to operate) out of the 150 or so routes they operate.
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Incentives were provided from the airport but that is no different than any other airport.
As for BRS yes that will always be a drain on Cardiff Airport (even if APD was devolved one day) but Flybe have shown that if the flights are provided then people will use them, around 480,000 passengers (CAA stats are the source) used Flybe from CWL in 2017 and because of that there has been more positivity around CWL than negativity lately, people who i know have always used BRS have started to use CWL as well and will do so in the future and that comes from having Flybe at the airport. That is why their survival and continued operations at CWL is extremely important for the airport.
As for BRS yes that will always be a drain on Cardiff Airport (even if APD was devolved one day) but Flybe have shown that if the flights are provided then people will use them, around 480,000 passengers (CAA stats are the source) used Flybe from CWL in 2017 and because of that there has been more positivity around CWL than negativity lately, people who i know have always used BRS have started to use CWL as well and will do so in the future and that comes from having Flybe at the airport. That is why their survival and continued operations at CWL is extremely important for the airport.
Flybe have much bigger fish to fry in other airports over CWL.
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Yes they do have bigger fish to fry then little CWL but that doesn't take away how important they are to the airport. If they do pull out it'll be interesting to see what effect it has on the airport as a whole as i can't see them be replaced. For airports like EXT and SOU the effects would be even bigger as they too won't find a replacement airline.
It seems like Flybe chose a strategy to differentiate away from Locos with smaller aircraft, thinner routes and a more premium, old style pricing structure. It didn't work. The Loco model is dominant and they now offer the benefits of the old model with ticket flexibility, bags included, even meals and middle seat free on some. Flybe made the wrong choice of commercial model, tied themselve into leases which meant they couldn't change model quickly and backed the wrong horse. Now a sale looms, if not, decline until a pre-pack adminstration can shake off all the leases and allow replacement by the ubiquitous 737/320. The airline business is now in the right hand side of the industry/poduct life cycle curve - lowest long run production costs, little innovation ad tending towards a utility (except utilities make money). The only way is lower and lower wages, automation and lowest seat/mile costs for the aircraft.
Tabs please !
I have a bit of experience on M&A. Once a buyer has stated their interest and signed all the requisite NDAs, they will have access to everything including the annual bill for loo roll. In my view, the company will be segmented with the purchaser taking the choice cuts through a new company and leaving what it doesn't want for the creditors to fight over at pennies in the pound. The old Flybe could be made more efficient such as pooling the fuel futures but the huge disparity in spend and lack of commonality suggests that Big Virgin would see zero benefit. The lack of a third runway at EGLL and spare capacity at EGKK limits options to gather feeder traffic from regional and near continent departure points. Whether the interest is genuine remains to be seen.
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It seems like Flybe chose a strategy to differentiate away from Locos with smaller aircraft, thinner routes and a more premium, old style pricing structure. It didn't work.