Flybe-9
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Ballymena
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The fact that credit card payments were being withheld would have been common knowledge in the investment industry. As I said previously, it is efficient, news is out in seconds. But they still valued the shares at 12p. They closed yesterday about 3.5p. Who arrived at the 1p valuation/offer? I have read The Times article. One processing company had started to hold back more than normal.
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Cardiff
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Good summary and in truth nobody has an idea.
Which gets to next question.
What exactly are new owners going to do to drive profitability, over something that has been shown by both BA Connect and Flybe not to work. Slash and burn is the only option with a high % of the portfolio of routes.
Which gets to next question.
What exactly are new owners going to do to drive profitability, over something that has been shown by both BA Connect and Flybe not to work. Slash and burn is the only option with a high % of the portfolio of routes.
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Cardiff
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The fact that credit card payments were being withheld would have been common knowledge in the investment industry. As I said previously, it is efficient, news is out in seconds. But they still valued the shares at 12p. They closed yesterday about 3.5p. Who arrived at the 1p valuation/offer? I have read The Times article. One processing company had started to hold back more than normal.
Join Date: Feb 2018
Location: Wales
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I personally doubt they'll go from the buy onboard model to full service and feeding Virgin will be very limited as at Heathrow they can't get the slots and at MAN they aren't that large ( Virgin that is) though they could in the long term build MAN up especially if they looked at the A321NEOLR for secondary cities. Personally I think Flybe will continue much as they are but a bit more streamlined. As for SEN well what are they going to introduce that won't effect LCY or Ryanair?
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Cardiff
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Costs will be saved by transferring to current VS call centres and streamlining the whole process. Feeder Airlines are often marginal but provide much needed feed to the parent airline. That's why keeping the profitable domestic and european routes that don't feed into the hubs will boost financial performance.
If VS uses this as an opportunity to expand from MAN it will likely mainly be USA routes, which normally depart before lunchtime. That means anyone connecting onto those flights will need to arrive in MAN between say 0800-1000, if not earlier. With the US arrivals being between say 0500-0800, pretty much only one bank of flights being needed, so say any feeder flights arriving and departing between 0900-1000. It depends how VS can work the long haul arrival and departure times. They will need to do something with the aircraft the rest of the day. VS have shrunk their Asia and Africa flights from LHR over recent years so its unlikely to see any from MAN in the immediate future. Most feeder Airlines feed into big hugs with short haul and long haul flights throughout the world, operating all day long. AF/KL, BA, LH, IB. VS don't have short haul to feed into or with the exception if some LHR flights, hardly any in the afternoon from other bases.
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Hemel Hempstead
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It isn’t like Virgin Atlantic gets no feed at all. They do have the ‘Worldwide by EasyJet’ deal at Gatwick, which the general scheme is expanding, and wouldn’t be surprising if one day ended up at Manchester.
The question for expansion is how that will be facilitated. More aircraft for VS LH, or more flying by DL allowing VS aircraft to be freed up to fly from MAN?
The question for expansion is how that will be facilitated. More aircraft for VS LH, or more flying by DL allowing VS aircraft to be freed up to fly from MAN?
Which ever way this goes, my guys is significant pruning of the network will take place. Consider, similar to some AF CDG routes operated in cooperation with BE, BE does the morning flights, meaning AF don't need a night stop.
Apply that to KL and AF across the UK, you've plenty of use for the fleet, and then feeding Virgin at MAN and LHR, maybe even rebrand Virgin Regional, or Virgin Lite ....
Apply that to KL and AF across the UK, you've plenty of use for the fleet, and then feeding Virgin at MAN and LHR, maybe even rebrand Virgin Regional, or Virgin Lite ....
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Cardiff
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I think those of you who think that this will just be flybe with Virgin branding or don’t believe that everything could change from route network to aircraft will be sadly mistaken.
Join Date: Aug 2007
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Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Dorset
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They couldn't start with a clean sheet - that's the whole point behind the structure of the deal. If Flybe went bankrupt - which appears to have been imminent given the £2.2 million purchase price and the immediate £20 million cash injection - then the Heathrow slots would have reverted to BA as insolvency would have been a default under the slot lease agreement. To keep the Heathrow slots, Flybe had to stay in business and so the low purchase price behind the deal recognises that the new owners of the business will - if the transaction goes through - have to take on a lot of liabilities which they would have been able to wash away in a CVA or an administration. The cash from the Gatwick slot sale will probably tide them over for a week or two until negotiations with the card providers can take place to unblock some of the forward ticket sales and the £20m "loan" - aka emergency cash injection - goes in. Once / if the deal is complete, then the £80m injection is the clean-up money needed to sort out the mess and recapitalise the business.
Sad to see a company so systematically destroyed by mis-management in such a short space of time.
Sad to see a company so systematically destroyed by mis-management in such a short space of time.
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Dorset
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Sorry - I am sure the Manchester hub operation also has good value to Virgin in future, as does greater control of AMS and CDG slots for KLM and Air France, as shareholders in VS. It is not exclusively about Heathrow slots, but that has to be a major part of the equation even if those slots don't end up remaining on UK domestic routes when the restrictions on their use become less onerous 15 months from now. Put it another way, the fact that the Gatwick slots are sold - and to Vueling of all people - makes it pretty clear that Gatwick isn't really part of the picture.
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Cardiff
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Clearly the various press releases stressing the importance of MAN, LHR and SEN didn’t tell the whole story. AMS and CDG are important too but because they weren’t mentioned I wonder if the AMS and CDG feed will be handed over to Stobart?
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: Daws Heath Essex
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There is much posted on here about Flybe operations after it's purchase by Virgin/Stobart, however I am surprised that there has been little or no comment from EXT on it's affect there, from an HQ and management employment point of view. Perhaps there is too much uncertainty. My thoughts are with the staff during this difficult time.
Join Date: Mar 2004
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From what I've heard, the mood in Exeter is very similar to that of the private investor shareholder base in Flybe - one of shock and upset about how the company has ended up here as quickly as it has, particularly after some of the bullish statements from the Chairman and CEO in relatively recent times. It is a poor outcome all round. I can't help but wonder whether time spent getting elected to the board of IATA and running gender-based equality campaigns in the industry might not have been better invested in running the business.
Join Date: Aug 2007
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You have to lay the blame with the Chairman who must have had a dispute with Saad Hammad resulting in his departure and then appointing Christine, a flawed appointment based on her record at the time.