It is using the Anglesey aircraft yes.

Stobart not getting off to a great start...

75% of the cabin crew they took on a couple of months ago, who only finished their course a week or two ago, were made redundant last week!

Schedules appear to have been cut across most routes.

Yes, schedules broadly cut in half - probably need less aircraft. A sign of our times. 😒

Relevant story from media below.

Belfast City – What happens next?

Article here.

Belfast City - What happens next?Aer Lingus has published a tender for the operation of its Aer Lingus Regional brand ahead of the expiration of its existing contract with with Dublin-based Stobart Air at the end of 2022.
Former International Airlines Group (IAG) Chief Executive Willie Walsh said earlier this year that a number of other airlines had already approached IAG and its Irish subsidiary about the contract.

Stobart Air currently operates one ATR42-600 and 12 ATR72-600s on behalf of Aer Lingus. The smaller turboprop is used on routes from Dublin to the Isle of Man and Donegal, while the larger Avions de Transport Régional aircraft fly to various destinations in the UK from Dublin, Cork, Shannon and Belfast City where five aircraft are based.

It does not operate any other scheduled or charter flights on top of its Aer Lingus Regional operations. Earlier this year, the carrier said it hoped to extend its contract with Aer Lingus to ensure a "sound financial footing" for its business going forward.

Stobart Group, which owns Stobart Air and Southend Airport, is said to be currently in talks over the sale of its stake in the airline and lessor Propius Leasing to another lessor, Falko Regional Aircraft which has its origins at BAe Regional Aircraft and is the recent owner of CityJet, now solely a wet lease operator.

The LSE listed engineering group sold Stobart Air to the Connect Airways consortium as a part of the doomed takeover plan for Flybe. Following an arrangement with the receivers it is now owned by Everdeal Holdings Ltd, which is owned by the Stobart Group (45%); Invesco (42%); Cenkos Securities (8%); and Pádraig Ó Céidigh (5%), Aer Arann's former Chairman.

While this is not a pleasant situation for any Stobart crew, am I correct in thinking that it will not directly impact Belfast City? The routes will hopefully continue albeit perhaps with a different subcontractor.

I suppose the question is who has a suitable fleet of aircraft that could replicate what Stobart does, I would think its a lot easier to make a profit with a turboprop than a half full jet these days!

There are quite a few Q400's now sat around at various airfields in north-western Germany.

I must admit to having had some hopes a while ago of seeing a FlyBe Mk2 resurrected from the administration process but I think it was unlikely then and even more so each day that passes. Any other potential viable airlines/contractors out there? The options are limited!

Would be quite limited to Loganair and Eastern Airways. Unless possibly but unlikely CityJet would able to take some of the Q400's and make Virgin Connect MK2

The prospects of Flybe MkII are so alarming that it's hard to see this being taken seriously. It was an airline which failed to generate substantive profits in the best of times, and although there will be a queue of people ready to decry the efforts of Saad, CO-W and those who followed, the incontrovertible truth is that none of them found the winning formula needed to make the business truly sustainable. Three rounds of management later - not all of whom could have been totally incompetent (surely!!) - and you are left with the conclusion that this was a fundamental problem with the business model that none of them could fix.

The notion that it could somehow return and create a sensible raison d'etre during the worst downturn that this industry has ever seen is fanciful. In times as dire as those we face today, I can see why the prospect may provide some faint hope that some will latch onto, but it is just that.

City Jet currentky undergoing process to add E170 and E190 to its fleet. Entirely possible they're a good runner for this with reduced SAS work and Brussels work no more.

...apart from the issue that the Aer Lingus Regional operation is confined to turboprops, as I understand it!

I seem to recall Air Nostrum at one time being linked as a potential suitor for Aer Lingus Regional. The are already an IAG franchisee operating the Iberia Regional brand.

This looks very possible for Cityjet and Virgin Connect using E190s

https://careers.cityjet.com/pilot-ca...pecialist-ejet

I seem to recall Air Nostrum registering Hibernian Airlines and obtaining an Irish AOC with the intention of bidding for the EI regional franchise. That was a few years ago and not heard much since.

Didn’t CityJet and Air Nostrum merge?

Virgin Connect.
Isn't that dead and gone...?

No the process didn't complete....

Not sure
Found this on the flybe form

https://assets.ey.com/content/dam/ey-sites/ey-com/en_uk/generic/flybe-limited-administration/ey-flybe-progress-report-5-march-2020-to-4-september-20.pdf

Though could another reason why Cityjet is interested in buying Stobart Air and bringing in E190's

Sale of Ireland's Stobart Air in jeopardy

Sale of Ireland's Stobart Air in jeopardy

13.10.2020Talks between Falko Regional Aircraft, a lessor that controls CityJet (WX, Dublin Int'l), and Stobart Group over the sale of Irish regional specialist Stobart Air (RE, Dublin Int'l) are in jeopardy as the future of the latter's crucial contract with Aer Lingus (EI, Dublin Int'l) is uncertain, the Irish Independent has reported.

While some unnamed sources said that the negotiations had all but collapsed over a number of factors, including Stobart Air's USD100 million liabilities, other sources said that talks were ongoing but an offer had yet to be tabled.

Stobart Air currently depends entirely on its regional contract with Aer Lingus, wherein it operates all of its aircraft - one ATR42-600 and twelve ATR72-600s - under the Aer Lingus Regional brand. However, reports have recently surfaced that Aer Lingus launched a tender for an operator of these services after the end of 2022, instead of extending the current deal with Stobart Air. Should Stobart Air lose the contracts, its business model would be in jeopardy.

Stobart Group hopes to finalise the sale of the airline by February 2021. The holding said that it was "engaging actively with a number of parties interested in acquiring its stake in Stobart Air".