If anyone from Flybe is reading this , please Sir, could you start doing Exeter to Brussels?

GROUNDHOG

Having read a little of your background in another thread, I value your views on matters like this.

The loads on the 3 x weekday, 2 x Sunday, BRS-BRU, SN Brussels ARJ 85s don't set the world alight - typically 4,000-6,000 a month, depending on season.

They seem to have been thus for a long time, so presumably the relatively high fares charged make the route worth doing.

However, with Belgium having limited popularity for people in the UK, would Flybe's strategy of low cost fares work on such a route, bearing in mind the likely number of punters?

I would have thought that AMS, even with their 'uneasyJet' charges, might be a better option from EXT.

Any thoughts?

Merchant Venturer.

I hear that FLYBE are desperate for Dash-8 qualified peeps to shoot over to Downsview for a quick conversion.....I know of someone that was told he could start 24 hrs later if required.....

First 737 for Astraeus/Flybe is an ex Aegean aircraft due end of month.

Good news for the Paris base. The company are in talks with Air France about internal routes. I don't know much more but it's looking promising that something might come out of a bad situation.

And what would internal french flights have to do with Air France then? Any EU airline can fly anywhere in the EU,and stick two fingers up to AF! (Now slots------that could be well controlled by AF--on the quiet of course!)

Can't say I've read of of a Paris base however.

Also just read G-JEBV is at Norwich for painting,so guess corrosion is no more.

And first 737-33A is G-STRI c/n 25011 ex SX-BBT (Aegean),to be operated in full Flybe colours.
Second is 737-36N G-STRE,also to be painted into full Flybe scheme at SNN.

'BV' may be in for paint but it still has a heavy maintenance check to be done I believe and that'll be when the worm can is opened.

Well ,they're hardly going to paint it first before the check! I suspect that the corrosion work is already complete. It has been out of service for some time,surely this would have been looked at to decide its fate then.

Oshkosh George,

I'm guessing your knowledge of flybe is somewhat limited!
There were once three french flybe bases, Lyon, Toulouse and Paris CDG. These bases were set up to operate routes on behalf of Air France on a franchise basis to many destinations in Europe at one time, but more recently this has shrunk down to just the CDG-BHX flights. The AF franchise contract ends at the end of this month, leaving the rest of the french flybe staff in CDG with no flights to fly! Therefore it is good news that once again flybe may be operating EU routes out of CDG on behalf of AF - securing the jobs of our colleagues in Paris.

Tri:ok:

Hi Merchant Venturer..

Probably not but my daughter lives in Brussels so I am being selfish!!!

Keep well

CDG
 

Tri,
why would AF give internal routes to flybe, when they already got CityJet?

Don't be silly. Nobody spends huge piles of money on painting an aircraft if there are serious corrosion issues - the corrosion is either not an issue, or a repair schedule has already been agreed with BAe. Why paint an aircraft whose next destination is the scrap heap?

Trislander
 

Well,Hudson Bay never mentioned INTERNATIONAL flights,he said INTERNAL,AND he never mentioned FRANCHISE either. Flybe are quite at liberty to fly their own internal flights,without begging to Air France.

Must admit though,didn't know Paris was a base,thought it would be BHX. Apologies there.

I guess it's already known that Cityjet take over the BHX-CDG from the end of this month.

Would a presence at CDG also open up more links there from the UK?

Would they be offering onward connections with AF? And does the AF-KL link up make this a possible at AMS too? Surely BE could fill their '400s much more easily than KL could fill their Fokkers?

Consider CDG and/or AMS from:

CDG:

NWI - rumoured CDG announcement later in summer?
BHD - does it have ability for international ops?
GLA - could someone sort this at last?
BHX - no true loco presence on this route (TOM just up the road though).
EDI - also two "high fare" operators at present.
ABZ - new base?
JER - give the CIs a proper hub link?

AMS:

EXT
ABZ - new base?
BHD - as per above?

The biggest stumbling block to CDG ops is the slot problem,which is probably why they like the AF franchise option(AF having lots of them). But that kind of leaves out the ones that Cityjet or AF do now,unless Flybe are looking to replace these(not much chance)

Not up on AMS ops,slots there too?

If Flybe operated flights to/from AMS to/from some UK airports on their own behalf (assuming slots are no problem) would their low cost philosophy work on that route?

easyJet cut back on their flights into AMS last year because of what they regarded as too high charges.

If they were too high for easyJet would they not be too high for Flybe, on the basis that BE would be unlikely to be able to negotiate lower charges than easyJet? Or would Flybe's smaller aircraft (than easyJet's) be an advantage to them when it came to airport charges?

MV
Ezy dropped GLA-AMS supposedly due to GLA's charges,not AMS's,they still operate EDI-AMS. So the problem is not the charges at AMS. Though quite how much difference there is between two BAA airports is difficult to understand.

Easyjet dropped some European routes because of fees at AMS though. Think it was Geneva and Nice

Actually EZY dropped NCE and BCN. GVA is still well alive with two daily flights to AMS.

On 23 September 2004 easyJet announced a Trading Update, part of which included the following passage.

Since the beginning of August, easyJet has announced 16 new routes and 9 new destinations, cut Zurich and reduced capacity to Copenhagen and Amsterdam as part of an ongoing programme to drive down costs.

Rotations were reduced from BRS, LPL and LTN to AMS from the start of the winter period, despite very high loads, and AMS charges were certainly part of the thinking behind this.

At CPH the problem was the Danish government that demanded an unrealistic (to easyJet) fee per passenger.