FlyBe - 6

[Tonyq]

A numbers of 'connections' options have disappeared from the booking engine today. IOM-SOU via MAN is another.

It would seem that the basic timetable is still being reconfigured so connections not available until the new component flights are in the system.

[SWBKCB]

EMB-170 G-FBJJ registered yesterday

GINFO Search Results | Aircraft Register | Operations and Safety (http://www.caa.co.uk/application.aspx?catid=60&pagetype=65&appid=1&mode=detailnosummary&fullregmark=FBJJ)

[bad bear]

Any good news or rumours about reducing the number of redundancies?

The head line of 60+ routes not covering their costs led most to think things were really bad. But, 4 of the route cuts announced actually meant only 2 rotations per day being dropped between all 4 (GLA-CDG, CWL-CDG,BHD-CDG,BHX-CDG), also many of the routes were summer only or once per week, so not as bad as expected. 10 year round route were dropped on 4th Dec with 14 summer only ones, then a couple of routes transferred to Loganair. The Newquay routes were saved. Some route frequencies were increased. Inverness only lost the Gatwick flight and Aberdeen seem untouched although Cardiff is almost wiped off the Flybe map.Yes there were 6 Gatwick routes dropped and one Q400 removed from Glasgow, Edinburgh and Southampton. If there are 9 planes being withdrawn wouldn't the pilot redundancies be more like 90?

Will there still be 179 pilots plus 320 other staff laid off or is there some good news?


bb

[davidjohnson6]

bb - have a read of the presentation the CEO made in November and some of the comments on this thread at the time. One of the points made clearly was a desire to increase the number of hours each pilot flies per year.

[Artic Monkey]

It's alot more than 9 aircraft going I can assure you. I'm not at liberty to put it all over pprune but that figure doesn't even come close.

[OltonPete]

Artic Monkey

Understandable and I don't blame you but the answers are in the revised timetable or I should say part of the answers and of course you are spot-on.

I joted some schedules from a June day (which i have mislaid) - I think it was a Monday and it was eye-watering with just five or six operational 195's and two of those are in conjunction with Air France.

BHX-CDG
MAN-CDG
EXT-Spain
SOU-Spain x 2 (or three)

No jets based in EDI, GLA or BHD when I looked. I realise this isn't probably the final timetable but this was only from earlier this week.

175's

3 x BHX
3 x MAN
1 x ABZ (MAN service)

Considering the 10th 175 is about to arrive are we looking at a postion that the 175's are gouing to be parked?

I think I made it about 46 aircraft from 65 (counting FBJJ but not the SN leases). Give or take a few errors and maybe some upgrades to jets on a few routes if the other 175's arrive, there seems little comfort in these figures.

Pete

[bad bear]

Flybe website says

We currently operate a fleet of 57 Bombardier Q400 turboprop aircraft and 14 Embraer 195 jets with an average age of under three years, making it one of the youngest and most fuel efficient in the world.

so 71 in total

If the cut is 19 planes, will than mean more routes being dropped than currently announced? Will there be cuts at Aberdeen or Inverness? Will Inverness still have a jet on the Manchester?

Surely there must be some news of reduced redundancies due to the extra and saved flights, or resignations to go to other airlines?


bb

[BOHEuropean]

The fleet is actually currently...

45x Q400s
10x E175s (1 further due, G-FBJK)
14x E195s

69x aircraft, +1 by next summer... Although I see there's a few Q400s still in the fleet that are now 10 years old so maybe some of these will naturally be leaving the fleet soon?

2 aircraft will return from Brussels Airlines end of March, so only two will be leased out. So that's 68 aircraft that need to be accounted for... I was under the impression it's the E195s being grounded and not the E175s but I have no evidence for this.

It's still possible 1x E195 will go to Aurigny, since they've yet to announce the source of their future fleet addition.

Either way a large portion of the fleet will be grounded come April...

[Geo73]

If one E195 does go to Aurigny it will only be on a short lease from the end of March until mid June when their new aircraft is due to be delivered.

[Artic Monkey]

bb, the Flybe website is a couple of years out of date. Right now we have in Flybe flying the network:

14 x E195
45 x Q400 (4 x BEL)
9 x E175

We've had the latest pilot bid document issued which details the fleet disposition and it's not far away from what oltonpete has stated. Everything is of course subject to change and we've already seen a couple of changes in the last two weeks.

[MKY661]

Here are the Fleet Changes for Flybe for 2014.

Bombardier Dash-8-Q400:
G-JEDP to be WFU 20th January 2014
G-JEDR to be WFU 27th January 2014
G-JEDT to be WFU 5th February 2014
G-JEDU to be WFU 8th March 2014
G-JEDV to be WFU 10th April 2014

Embraer E-175
G-FBJK due Shortly.

Embraer E-195
G-FBEA to be WFU 9th August 2014
G-FBEB to be WFU 30th November 2014

Source: Flybe Fleet List (http://www.jethros.org.uk/fleets/fleet_listings/flybe.htm)

[TCAS_Alert]

Was due to fly out of WAT-BHX on Wednesday. Inbound flight diverted to DUB due to weather, all pax bussed 5 hours to BHD to catch the evening flight. Horrendous day, I believe the same happened on the Monday and Friday flight too this week. One poor guy had been diverted to DUB on the way in and out of BHD on the way back!

Why they couldn't send us to DUB to catch the original aircraft back, or even book us with another airline ex-DUB I have no idea.

[JC25]

I understand why bussing you to DUB to get on the diverted aircraft would be the a better option for you (and the other WAT-BHX pax), however, the diverted aircraft was almost certainly needed back in BHX ASAP to avoid delaying many more pax on the other routes the aircraft was due to fly that day. It's a choice between inconveniencing the passengers on one flight or inconveniencing the passengers on five flights later in the day. From a commercial stand point, I think the right decision was taken.

Also, I think you may find that the WAT-BHX sector is the crew's 4th sector of the day from an early start, so delaying them on the ground at DUB for a few hours to wait for pax to be bussed from WAT may well have caused issues with their duty hours.

These things are rarely as simple or straight forward as they appear.

[Granite City Express]

Now that Schroders are reducing their stake holding, is this a vote of no confidence in the turnaround plan?
Schroders plc : Schroders cuts stake in FlyBe | 4-Traders (http://www.4-traders.com/SCHRODERS-PLC-9590124/news/Schroders-plc--Schroders-cuts-stake-in-FlyBe-17702936/)

[Granite City Express]

They took a loss.

[Cloud1]

I understand someone purchased half a million pounds worth of shares recently? That's what I had heard but I know rumour mills are rife when a restructure is taking place

[davidjohnson6]

FLYB:London Stock Chart - Flybe Group PLC - Bloomberg (http://www.bloomberg.com/quote/FLYB:LN/chart)

Last date with a significantly higher than normal turnover in shares was early-mid November - presumably around the time when the new strategic plan was announced.

[E75toDUS]

I expect most interested people will have seen this, but if not:

If Flybe didn?t exist you would have to invent it, says chief executive Saad Hammad - Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/transport/10539047/If-Flybe-didnt-exist-you-would-have-to-invent-it-says-chief-executive-Saad-Hammad.html)

[msbbarratt]

BBC News - Aircraft landing 'near-miss' over Runcorn Bridge (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-25548187)

Sounds like a couple of pilots in full control with perfectly acceptable SA being told off by a nervous system?

[antonov09]

Flybe passenger plane was just seconds away from crashing into a bridge as it came in to land | Mail Online (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2531167/Flybe-passenger-plane-just-seconds-away-crashing-bridge-came-land.html)

[Foxy Loxy]

Must be a slow news day....
AAIB report here: http://www.aaib.gov.uk/cms_resources.cfm?file=/DHC-8-402%20Dash%208%20G-FLBD%2011-13.pdf

[SloppyJoe]

Errr and your posting this because?

They did not almost hit a bridge, that just sounds better. The EGPWS probably shouted sink rate at them. Hardly worthy of the headline leading people to believe they WERE SECONDS FROM CRASHING INTO A BRIDGE.

Every time I go to work we are SECONDS AWAY FROM CRASHING THROUGH THE AIRPORT PERIMETER FENCE AT OVER 200MPH AND SMASHING INTO THE VEHICLES ON THE CROWDED MOTORWAY KILLING HUNDREDS.

[GCILover]

I am surprised that all the Spanish flights out of SOU are ending in September next year and not going to take advantage of the October half term.

Does anyone know if they are stopping them permanently or are there other plans for the jets through the winter months.

[Jazz Hands]

This came out in the AAIB bulletin weeks ago. Hardly 'news' even if it was news.

[DaveReidUK]

Photo accompanying the DM article:

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/12/30/article-2531167-03AB33990000044D-53_634x335.jpg

The incident involved a Dash 8. :ugh:

[Hotel Tango]

Typical rubbish from the Mail. What a joke this paper is.

[CabinCrewe]

The majority of the public don't care what aircraft is featured....

[srobarts]

Liverpool Echo published the story first, followed by the BBC and then the DM

JLA passenger jet just missed Runcorn Bridge crash - Liverpool Echo (http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/jla-passenger-jet-just-missed-6452936)

BBC News - Aircraft landing 'near-miss' over Runcorn Bridge (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-25548187)

[MKY661]

I am surprised that all the Spanish flights out of SOU are ending in September next year and not going to take advantage of the October half term.

Does anyone know if they are stopping them permanently or are there other plans for the jets through the winter months.

I'm sure Flybe do SOU-AGP during the winter time. Or is this stopping as well? :)

[OltonPete]

MKY661

Like other routes it is taking a rest this winter - last flight 4-1-14 to 7-2-14 then twice weekly so possibly next year it might well bite the dust.

Week Commencing 20-1-2014.

Do the 175 and 195 crew interchange? For a two-three week period (weekdays) the number of 195's listed to fly (seat-maps and GDS) total 3 out of the fleet of 14 but all eleven 175's are active. The 195 usage does not increase that much either in February and although this has been publicised previously due to the restructuring, is this an earlier than expected and are there two further 175's arriving in this financial year as indicated or have these been deferred?

Out of interest Monday 20 Jan seems to show 11 x 175 (3 @ BHX, 2 @ MAN, INV, 1 @ JER, EDI, GLA & ABZ), 3 x 195 (1 @ BHX, MAN & BHD) and 35 DH8D's, which equals 49 operational aircraft out of 60-64 (some DH8D's are listed in Jethro's as leaving from January as per an earlier post).

I couldn't find any 195's operational at Southampton on 20 Jan although I realise GDS and seat-maps are not the most reliable.

Both EDI's and GLA's 195's seem to leave mid January although one out of the four (operational in December) in total returns to EDI in February. Some bases seem to lose a DH8D for a while (or replace a jet) - the first out BHX-BHD for three weeks (a bit of a surprise), GLA-CWL (gone), BHD-NCL (once daily for good?), SOU-LBA (gone) amongst others.

The period from say 8 Jan to February half-term does see cuts each year (by most UK operators) but needless to say that these are the most significant by flybe thus far.

[darkbarly]

Do the 175 and 195 crew interchange?


Yes, both cabin crew and flight crew are approved to operate both variants, sometimes on the same day.

[spargazer]

There is a proposed second crossing nearby, it is much, much taller, did anyone object, no.

BBC News - Planners approve Mersey Gateway bridge project (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-12049082)

stay safe

[spargazer]

BBC News - Planners approve Mersey Gateway bridge project (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-12049082)

[bad bear]

All quiet on the Flybe front? Hope there is good news for the crews and other staff soon. It does not sound like the headline grabbing 60+ routes not covering their costs has led to many being dropped.

bb

[Aero Mad]

bad bear you might have seen this already but this is the list of the 30 routes to be dropped, of which 14 are summer seasonal. Could be worse but if it's going to stop the cash haemorrage then what's gotta go has gotta go Flybe | Corporate | Media | News archive (http://www.flybe.com/corporate/media/news/1312/04.htm)

[matspart3]

IOM/BHX going down to a single daily from Feb by the looks of it.

[OltonPete]

matspart3

It was already down to 10 a week so a further three flights lost but it is a very late cut. Back to double daily from late March at the moment.

Stuttgart

Due to go from double daily in the week at the end of March but the last morning flight is actually this Friday.

A bit lean the next two weeks but frequencies start to recover early Feb from BHX.

At least the second GLA & EDI 195's are still operating (SOU & BHX) as they were down to be replaced by Q400's in GDS from yesterday but the change is shown again from next Monday - I suppose all subject to change. However the first 175 at each airport has arrived replacing a 195 on SOU and BHX.

The lack of 195's flying this summer seems to be affecting IT flights as well. BHX - Preveza remains bookable but on one site it changes to a Gatwick departure by Monarch and BHX - Almeria seems to have disappeared as well. A real blow to BHX as Preveza sold well last year.

Pete

[Flightrider]

Pete - all IT charters have been ditched as part of the restructuring plan. It seems a particularly crazy decision in what is essentially a Monday to Friday operation with some limited scope for flying on Saturdays and Sundays given that the airline is trying to improve crew and aircraft utilisation. However, it's their train set to play with and their decision to make, and for which to be accountable to their shareholders.

Consequently, you won't see any jet charters from any UK airport by Flybe, but might see some rather odd replacements drifting in to take over the bits of flying which remain.

[OltonPete]

Flightrider

Thank you for the information, glad I never booked Preveza.

I am sort of shocked at the wholesale dumping of the IT's but on the other hand not totally surprised as some schedules have actually increased at the weekend this coming summer (BHX - AMS, ABZ, EDI, GLA and NOC).

I assume the booking engine doesn't lie - just six 195's operating this summer.

Pete

[anne747380]

Is Flybe dumping the other 8 195s?Great shame,I used to enjoy flying on them.

[Daza]

There seems to be big changes in progress on the Flybe website effecting Summer 2014. Certainly at BHX several routes are showing double daily (HAJ,STR and MXP) and IOM seems to be reduced to daily. Fares not bookable yet but frequencies are loaded into the booking system.
Daza

[wallp]

BBC News - Flybe adds Luton to Guernsey route (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-guernsey-25826524)

I do wonder what was the point of applying for a route that Flybe don't intend to operate?

[Daza]

Looks like Birmingham Airport will see new routes as well as increased frequencies on key European services. :ok:
Flybe Boosts Summer Schedule From Birmingham - Birmingham Airport (http://www.birminghamairport.co.uk/meta/news/2014/01/flybe-boosts-summer-schedule-from-birmingham.aspx)
Daza

[GayFriendly]

BE have been v cautious expanding at BHX in the past, if part of their strategic review to concentrate on key bases then perhaps we could see a whole raft of new routes, BHX for sure needs some good route news for Summer '14! However I have a feeling though based on past BE developments this will be one or two new routes: there are some lengthy gaps in the E175 schedules at times but not enough to indicate availability for more than a couple of routes to operate at decent enough frequencies. Better than nothing if that's all that happens!

[Cloud1]

I'm sure it was noted on here before, that the MUC airport slot requests for S14 included double daily BHX rotations on the E195. Not sure if this would still be offered now the E195s are intending to be phased out

Afterall look at the LTN-GCI!

[NickBarnes]

very good news indeed, very interested to see what the new routes will be :ok:

[MKY661]

G-FBEJ & G-FBEK have been Withdrawn from use :) G-FBEL will also be Withdrawn from use at the end of the month :)

Source: Flybe Fleet List (http://www.jethros.org.uk/fleets/fleet_listings/flybe.htm)

[Cloud1]

MKY661 - why the happy faces with that update? I personally feel that the removal of the E195s is a very sad and dissapointing decision on the part of the airlines management. I remember being there when they were brought in to service albeit not too many years ago. Lovely aircraft which will be missed once they are fully phased out.

[MKY661]

MKY661 - why the happy faces with that update? I personally feel that the removal of the E195s is a very sad and dissapointing decision on the part of the airlines management. I remember being there when they were brought in to service albeit not too many years ago. Lovely aircraft which will be missed once they are fully phased out.

Sorry I'm just very used to adding Smileys to messages when I type haha. I'm also sad for them to go as well though :(

[cornishsimon]

So FBEK now stored at NQY

Sad to see.

cs

[GCILover]

One of them will be going to Aurigny at the end of March until they get theirs

[Curious Pax]

With Cornish connections by marriage I'm happy to see Newquay getting business (I assume they'll be charging BE for storing the Embraer), but seems a strange location given the amount of salt that must be in the air round there. Wouldn't have thought it would do the aircraft much good over a prolonged period of time.

[Expressflight]

Talking of NQY I've just been told Flybe will operate NQY-SEN this summer. Is that right?

Edit: Yes, confirmed by Flybe to be operating at 3 x weekly from May to September. It will be good to see Flybe back at SEN.

[cornishsimon]

NQY isn't such a strange choice to store aircraft, theres plenty of hangar and HAS space available for short and long term, I think Netjets had or still have a decent sized fleet stored @ NQY, certainly when the downturn was at its worst they did.

Also Flybe have previously used NQY to store aircraft, they had DH8 G-JEDN for a while before she went onward to Aerocontractors, displaying JEDN but in Aerocontractors livery.

On the subject of NQY-SEN on BE, its the first iv heard of it but it wouldn't surprise me. However, unless its going to be at stupid o'clock would that not require a 2nd based aircraft or an aircraft doing a W pattern ?

Currently for summer 14 the based aircraft will operate NQY-LGW-NQY-BHX-NQY-MAN-NQY-LGW-NQY so cant see its got scope to go SEN as well.

cs

[tws123]

Newquay to London-Southend: Flights start on 16th May and run until 27th September on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Article: Flybe resurrects Southend flights after easyJet 'left passengers in the lurch' | The Cornishman (http://www.cornishman.co.uk/Flybe-resurrects-Southend-flights-easyJet-left/story-20506509-detail/story.html)

[anne747380]

The 195s are fantastic jets,I remember EA first entering service and all the excitement around them.I feel very sad to see these lovely planes leaving.

[adfly]

There has been an E195 parked at the north end of SOU for the last few weeks, I assume this is one of those being removed?

[anne747380]

Do you know what reg the 195 is?Might have to get down to see her

[LN-KGL]

Echo Kilo seems to be the one stored at NQY.

[akerosid]

It'll be sad to see them go; I don't think Flybe really understood how loathed the 146s were until people started flying on the 195s. It's often said that people don't really care what type of plane they flew on as long as it got them there ... but the 195 is/has been a very much admired aircraft - by pax and crew alike. Moving from 6 abreast on the 146 to 4 abreast on the 195 was a joy!

Here's 'FBEJ on departure from Jersey:

Photo: G-FBEJ (CN: 19000155) Flybe Embraer 190-200LR by John Fitzpatrick - JetPhotos.Net (http://jetphotos.net/viewphoto.php?id=6285345&nseq=14)

and 'Echo Kilo:

Photo: G-FBEK (CN: 19000168) Flybe Embraer 190-200LR by John Fitzpatrick - JetPhotos.Net (http://jetphotos.net/viewphoto.php?id=6278594&nseq=15)

Thanks for the memories!

[gkmeech]

Thinks it's G-FBED parked up at SOU

[Artic Monkey]

The E195 in NQY is G-FBEK

[anne747380]

I'm going to Southampton Airport this Sunday to see the 195 there.I was on G-FBED 2 years ago.I want to take some last pics of her before she goes.No doubt she will be leaving the fleet soon

[BOHEuropean]

Aircraft is used at the weekends, just not during the week... so G-FBED isn't actually wfu yet.

[gkmeech]

She might be only parked there until she is needed as one of the based aircraft for the summer routes to Spain

[rutankrd]

Aircraft is used at the weekends, just not during the week... so G-FBED isn't actually wfu yet.

I believe its done evening returns to Belfast and Amsterdam over the last two days then parked up again.

[Centre cities]

Any offers as to how the Newquay to Southend will be operated as at present it does not fit in the the schedule. Does it mean 3 BHX or MAN flights make way or are operated from the MAN or BHX bases.

Centre cities

[TCAS FAN]

gkmeech

Only a temporary requirement for this summer, until the Spanish routes are pulled at the end of the season, presumably due to the demise of the 195s and the inability of their underpowered 175s to take a full load out of SOU?

[cornishsimon]

Is it beyond the realms that a 2nd DH8 could end up NQY based with the current EDI being operated ex NQY ? And some new routes like EMA, LBA, DUB etc being added ?


cs

[cornishsimon]

Looking at the online timetable, there seems to be a second daily NQY-MAN-NQY loaded.
BE352/3
BE354/5

Any ideas ?


cs

[Deano777]

I currently operate the route and I can only say what I think may happen. This is just my opinion and does not reflect on what the company may have planned in any way, shape or form.

As we all know the current based aircraft operates:

BEE801/2
BEE352/3
BEE803/4
BEE805/6

And will operate:

BEE801/2
BEE1821/2
BEE354/5
BEE805/6

I believe for the summer only there is a second MAN rotation? This will have to emanate from MAN I assume so I am guessing this aircraft will operate MAN-NQY-SEN-NQY-MAN

I maybe wrong, we haven't had anything official released to us as yet.

Rgds

D777

[gkmeech]

It surprises me that Flybe will stop the Spanish summer routes out of Southampton. I have flown them for the past 10 years and they have always been busy. In fact this summer Palma is 5 x pw, Alicante and Malaga both daily, and Faro 6 days pw.

[Matt995]

I believe the NQY-SEN flights only operate on a Tue/Thu/Sat and will be operated by the based NQY DH8 as follows :-

BE 801/2 NQY-LGW-NQY 07:45-09:00/09:30-10:40 (Mon-Sun)
BE 1826/5 NQY-SEN-NQY 11:05-12:25/12:50-14:10 (Tue/Thu/Sat only)
BE 1823/2 NQY-BHX-NQY 11:20-12:30/12:55-14:05 (not Tue/Thu/Sat)
BE 354/5 NQY-MAN-NQY 14:45-16:00/16:40-17:50 (Mon-Sun)
BE 805/6 NQY-LGW-NQY 18:25-19:40/20:10-21:20 (Mon-Sun)

The BHX flights on Tue/Thu/Sat will be operated by a BHX DH8 as follows :-

BE 1822/3 BHX-NQY-BHX 11:20-12:30/12:55-14:05

not certain about the 2nd MAN flight, maybe a timetable error?

[BOHEuropean]

Forgive me, but it's still not confirmed that the Spanish routes will not operate in 2015... is it??

[gkmeech]

According to TCASFan ... see his previous post

[Cloud1]

I'm not suggesting this is a good idea just in case any BE commercial team are reading but the Q400 does Spain very easily and has done so from IOM and JER/GCI before. Just because the E195s are off doesn't mean SOU-ALC or AGP couldn't be achieved.

I do however think it unlikely though also because Flybe wish to have an average sector length of 90 minutes.

Alas never say never especially as passengers, as much as many still insist on disagreeing with, will fly on the prop even on longer sectors if they can do so more easily. SOU-SZG, LBA-INN, SOU-NCE have all been on the Q400 at some stage and worked successfully

[adfly]

Not sure if Flybe could make a Q400 work to AGP/ALC/FAO/PMI, the flying time for those destinations means the speed disadvantage will be more significant, and there are plenty of jet alternatives from nearby airports at a lower price (BOH, LGW etc). They work well from the C.I. and IOM because there is no practical direct alternative.

It is a shame to see the E195's go, as they seemed ideal for the SOU/EXT-The Med routes. They were/are usually more expensive than EZY/FR but also more comfortable (and convenient, location dependant of course). It will be interesting to see how the gap will be filled at SOU, as Flybe have proven that there is a strong demand for the routes (This summer ALC, AGP, PMI are daily, FAO is 6 weekly and NCE is 5 weekly in the peak months).

[OltonPete]

195's

What will they do on nights like this - BHX has one based 195 scheduled but four operated tonight and only one of the three based 175's flying today!

New Routes

two of the rumoured new BHX routes are back on sale via connections at CDG whereas last week the fares were greyed out.

Is there an route announcement due this week other than SEN-NQY?

Pete

[Wycombe]

The online timetable has now been updated a bit and suggests the following:

- on Tues, Thurs and Sat from 17th May, the BHX flights are operated from the BHX end.

- on these days the flight to SEN leaves NQY at 1105, suggesting it is operated by the aircraft that arrives from LGW at 1040 (as per Matt995 above)

I reckon (as of now) that the 2nd Manchester rotation (BE352/353) is a timetable error, as it shows as operating almost daily (Mon-Fri and Sun) from 30th March, with Saturdays added from May - looks like Deano777 is best placed to advise us though ;-)

[Cloud1]

The online timetable is not correct it is still being updated - still includes the old schedule. Wouldn't dwel on it.

[NWSRG]

Folks, pure curiosity here, but any ideas why both the Glasgow and Edinburgh flights were delayed this morning? The Glasgow flight I was waiting for ended up getting a 195, and a flight time of 23 minutes...

[Leg]

Dash in BHD tech so spare 195 de-mothballed to help out.

Quite a few tech issues today, as most days on the trash 8 fleet,
and the new idiot in charge thinks the future of the company
is the tractor. :hmm:

[davidjohnson6]

Leg - if you're unimpressed with the boss' strategy, perhaps you could tell us what you think should be done to restore Flybe to financial good health ?

[Centre cities]

In respect of the above post, not to sure about BHX to Alicante and Palma up against Monarch and Ryanair.

Centre cities

[Flightrider]

The new BHX expansion is very odd indeed. They must have extremely short memories of BHX-PMI and BHX-ALC, given that they flew these a few years ago, got run out of town very quickly and pulled off. All I can assume is that this is a cashflow generation exercise to get advance bookings in the bank, paid for up front.

And BHX-Cologne? Once a day, off peak? Surely the logical thing would be an extra frequency on BHX-Dusseldorf especially given that it's an existing route and the train services from DUS airport to Cologne are so good.

About the only one which makes sense is BHX-FLR - though it seems like rather high frequency.

[GCILover]

I haven't looked at the others but the BHX-ALC is showing as a 175. Perhaps they think it will be more successful if they have less seats to worry about filling.

Now let's get some new decent routes from sou.

[globetrotter79]

BHX-OPO, ALC, PMI....so much for the 90-minute airline. A bit off message given all the spiel we've had so far from the new management team?!

[E75toDUS]

I haven't looked at the others but the BHX-ALC is showing as a 175. Perhaps they think it will be more successful if they have less seats to worry about filling.


Given business travel seems to fall in summer, BE have to find something to do with their fleet (e.g. DUS is usually only 2x daily in summer vs 3-4x in peak). MON already want >£250 pp on BHX to Alicante, and maybe BE think they can put a decent load factor into a 175 at that price, then the fiscals make sense. But outside of school hols may be a struggle.

And BHX-Cologne? Once a day, off peak?
I'm not sure Duesseldorf could take another flight, but I agree, it's hard to see this being really appealing to business passengers. And as soon as it looks like working, surely 4U will pick it up and demolish BE's business case?

No sign of Munich where BE have applied. OK there is LH competition, but the people I talk to give me the impression that BE could make progress if they can offer an attractive late afternoon/early evening returns to the UK, as with the current flight timings, business trips can be properly shattering.

[GCILover]

They might even help themselves somewhat if they advertise these new routes on their homepage.

There's nothing unless you look on the route map, timetable or go to book a route

[Daza]

Flybe have now added a link on the website main page!:)
Flybe | Corporate | Media | News archive (http://www.flybe.com/corporate/media/news/1401/31.htm)

Daza

[ATNotts]

And BHX-Cologne? Once a day, off peak? Surely the logical thing would be an extra frequency on BHX-Dusseldorf especially given that it's an existing route and the train services from DUS airport to Cologne are so good.

If you'd ever tried driving between the Düsseldorf and Cologne areas you'd realise that the two airports serve different markets. Fly to DUS to reach industrial centres such as Essen, Wuppertal, Duisburg, Moenchen Gladbach, Neuss etc., and CGN if you're looking to reach Cologne (the major commercial centre) and the southern Ruhr conurbations of Leverkusen, Aachen, Bonn and Düren. The market for CGN is going to be smaller businesswise, but for leisure Cologne is always going to win out over the more industrial cities to the north of the Ruhr.

I think they may have pitched it just about right, and if CGN does work, then they can always increase the service to double daily M-F.

[bad bear]

To support these ‘Magnificent Seven’ routes, Flybe is also adding three of its 2x2 seat Embraer 175 jets to the airport thereby creating its biggest ever regional base with 12 aircraft, thereby creating more than 50 new Flybe jobs.

The sad saga started with headlines of a large number of routes that were not covering their direct costs and hundred to loose their jobs, then a little good news here and there as the odd extra route or rotation was added, now it seems good news at last with a return to recruitment?

bb

[virginblue]

And BHX-Cologne? Once a day, off peak? Surely the logical thing would be an extra frequency on BHX-Dusseldorf especially given that it's an existing route and the train services from DUS airport to Cologne are so good.

It is a new route at CGN, and usually this means that incentives are being coughed up by the airport. A fifth daily rotation to DUS at an off-off peaktime would probably attract few passengers and be more expensive to operate than a new service to Cologne.

Cologne has seen various BHX services over the past decade. It has been served - in that order - by British Airways, Lufthansa/DLT, Augsburg Airways, Duo, HLX and Germanwings in the past. The HLX and Germanwings flights were operated by 150 seaters which were too big for the market, but an 80 seater should do okay. Problem is that Germanwings now has CRJ900s at its disposal. They have begun operating W-patterns from DUS to include thin routesto/from CGN, e.g. WAW or ARN. Germanwings could always try to do BHX with a DUS-based aircraft in order to keep Flybe out of its CGN sandbox.

[munrobagger]

On the subject of 195s I see Thomson have retimed their EDI-MAH to Sat afternoon using BA , used to be Flybe 195s .

[Hotel Tango]

ATNotts: As one who does it often, the time difference driving Aachen-DUS or Aachen-CGN is negligable. Same goes for Leverhusen. I can't see very much high yield business traffic using the CGN service with the frequencies and timings offered. The Aachen, Duren and Leverkusen businessmen will opt for the higher frequencies offered from DUS. There will perhaps be more demand for leisure traffic from April to October. I'll be surprised if it continues into the Winter.

[ATNotts]

As one who does it often, the time difference driving Aachen-DUS or Aachen-CGN is negligable.

I must keep encountering the autobahn network between the 2 cities at very bad times, as it seems to me about as bad as the M6 around Birmingham!

[Hotel Tango]

I guess you must be :) I've been doing it for the past 40 years from a departure point in The Netherlands just West of Aachen. The time difference is less than 10 minutes. Of course, it can vary depending on road works (there's always road works). There are two ways from Aachen to DUS v.v., both via the autobahn network.

[virginblue]

It should not be forgotten that Cologne is the fourth largest German city and a considerable market in itself (add to that the region south and east of it for which CGN is the logical choice over DUS). If DUS can support 7 daily flights to BHX by BE and LH, it does not seem outlandish to assume that BHX can support 80 seats daily, given the fact that HLX and Germanwings did not fly empty planes, although they could not fill a 150 seater.

Plus, the BE flight opens up daily, reasonably priced connections from CGN to GLA, EDI and BHD (and IOM) which are not served from CGN at all / on a year round-basis.

[adfly]

It confuses me further that Flybe are getting rid of the E195's and yet flying BHX-Spain/Portugal on the E175!

[Wycombe]

They had to take a certain no. of 175's so I guess they have to use them for something (summer and winter).

With most of the 195's going I'm sure the pax would rather that than BHX to Spain and Portugal in a Q400.

[adfly]

Nothing wrong with the comfort of the E175, should be identical after all! I just surprises me that the sun routes would not benefit from the extra 30 seats of an E195, especially considering the competing FR/ZB (and TOM/TCX to a lesser extent) are each using planes with between two and three times the capacity of the E175.

[JobsaGoodun]

I guess there may be two points that tip the balance, firstly the E175's use different engines than the E195's (although I've no idea if that makes them more economical). Perhaps someone more informed can give some input?

...and the other thing is that they need only 2 cabin crew as opposed to 3. I guess when Flybe are floating around with an average load factor that struggles to get above 70% then it suggests that the extra 30 seats are a challenge to fill.

I agree that filling them on the likes of ALC or PMI is very possible, but what about all the other flights that the aircraft has to do at other times of the day. Perhaps the benefit of a larger aircraft on ALC/PMI is outweighed by empty seats in the E195 on the European business and domestic routes that Flybe operate?....

[Grolsch30]

Flybe increasing flights BHX - HAJ to twice a day using the larger E175 instead of the Dash 8:

From 30.03.2014

Die Flugdaten im Einzelnen:
Hannover - Birmingham
Montag - Sonntag 10.15 - 11.15 Uhr
Montag - Freitag 20.10 - 21.10 Uhr
Sonntag 16.00 - 16.55 Uhr
Birmingham - Hannover
Montag - Sonntag 07.05 - 09.50 Uhr
Montag - Freitag 17.00 - 19.45 Uhr
Sonntag 12.50 - 15.35 Uhr


Wish they would increase the Manchester flights.

[Phalconphixer]

So far as the SOU ALC and AGP routes are concerned isnt it the case that Flybe have been slowly pricing themselves out of the market? OK they are the only operator on these routes, but to folk in Portsmouth and Hampshire, SOU was the airport of choice.
With Monarch and Ezy operating LGW to ALC and AGP at a fraction of Flybe's prices and with Flybe's inconsistent timetabling its no wonder that Pax loads may be seen to be falling.
It will be a great loss if Flybe do pull the SOU ALC & AGP services in September, but my wife who uses AGP regularly now flies to/from Gatwick with Monarch.

Monarch did pretty much the same thing with their LGW-GRX back in 2007... after two years of successful operation and after the Irishman moved into GRX with promises of this and that in exchange for outrageous subsidies, First Monarch changed the days and times of operations into GRX and in the face of falling pax numbers increased their fares to sometimes ludicrous levels agin resulting in falling revenue. On the last day of operation the one way fare from LGW to GRX was 250 pounds; from GRX to LGW it was just 3 pounds... stupid, stupid, stupid, but typical over the last month.

When Granada council were unable to extend to Monarch the same subsidies that the Irishman was getting Monarch pulled the service at three weeks notice. Then as if to show his utter contempt for his customers the Irishman too pulled out of GRX when Granada council finally ran out of money for subsidies...

There are distinct similarities in the way that Flybe is treating the sun routes... the answer basically is simple... charge a good rate which remains the same irrespective of the season with no vast differences in the fares between the outbound and inbound routes, and fly the routes at a time the pax want to fly... generally Outbound at 0700, inbound at 1230.

[Buster the Bear]

Looked at booking flights in August to Malaga from Southampton. Booked instead from elsewhere!

[GusHoneybun]

I wouldn't worry too much longer about how much flybe are wanting to charge you. The bucket and spade routes from the south coast are going to finish for good come the winter 2014.
Flybe want to be know as a 90 minute airline, and as a result are grounding all the thirsty, if popular, 195's. The only reason they have continued into the summer is the heavy penalties from the tour companies who have already sold the seats for their package deals.

If you want cheap flights, fly from LGW.

[Cloud1]

Sorry guys, but I think its just bad luck. If you have flexibility the fares are not that unreasonable.

Just checked 06AUG for a week for 1 adult with a 20kg bag. With MON from LGW it was only £9 cheaper than BE from SOU. I would argue that £9 was worth the convenience of flying local. The day before MON were £60 cheaper. If you are flexible with dates then BE are not far off the mark.

Now thats not to say MON are cheaper on other dates as well I only selected random August dates but it works both ways. I would disagree that BE are pricing themselves out of the market.

And actually loads have always been very good out of SOU. It is just that the bucket and spade holidays from SOU no longer feature as the E195s are going and the E175s wont make it from SOU short runway.

[Wycombe]

It's all a bit odd - the sun routes will end from SOU in Sept (with the 195's going), but this Summer they are flying daily to AGP, ALC, PMI and 7 a week to FAO (2 on Sat, none on Sunday), which is a bigger operation from SOU than ever before I think. Those 195's must be more of a burden than any of us know and the 175's with their derated donks are looking like a constraint rather than a benefit.

And as for becoming a "90 minute" airline - some of the new routes from BHX definitely don't fit that model.

Still waiting to see if there will be any new business-oriented routes from SOU?

[Phalconphixer]

I guess its a relative thing... I have no great love for Monarch after their LGW-GRX stunt, but their fares over the last over the last three years have been fairly consistent whereas Flybe fares have risen considerably over the same period hence my reference to pricing themselves out of the market.

One thing I do take issue with with all the companies on the sun routes, LoCos and traditional (and I include Monarch and Flybe in the latter category),is the sometimes vast difference in fares between the outbound and inbound legs of the same paired flight numbers.eg BE1677/8 (SOU-AGP-SOU) or ZB736/7 (LGW-AGP-LGW)...

I've said it before but for me and many other folk who live in inland Andalucia and maintain connections with Hampshire and Berkshire the ideal service would be SOU-GRX but that isnt going to happen any time soon if ever! When the choice becomes LGW-AGP with a long road or rail trip tied on at both ends its not very appetising and sorry but Ryanair holds no appeal whatsoever.

[bean]

Flybe published their 3rd quarter management statement yesterday. It shows good progress with the turnaround plan.

Leg. The new "idiot" in charge seems to be doing a pretty good job:=

[gkmeech]

I have flown FlyBe from SOU to PMI for 10 years and will do so again this September. If I take in to account petrol to/from and parking at LGW it usually works out cheaper from SOU. Even if it doesn't it's worth a few extra quid just for the convenience of using Southampton Airport.

[FQTLSteve]

I've found this very interesting regarding comments re the two a/c. However can someone explain this. The E195 was introduced with great fanfare, used them several times, mainly BHX-EDI and they always seemed pretty full. However I'd like someone to explain what the advantage is now that they're all being replaced with E175's? Surely some key trunk routes filled the E195 e.g MAN/BHX-EDI/GLA seems a big loss of seats. Are they really so much cheaper to operate and if so why.....confused as well re SOU why E195 can to Spain but an E175 can't? Hopefully there will be someone out there who can give a clear response and explanation, to put me out of my confusion?

[Leg]

Bean, so what else do you call a boss who treats his staff with utter contempt? :mad:

195 v 175

It's quite simple really, the 175 was bought with the small low power engine because it was to be used on regional routes, does not have the legs for longer, that is greater than 90 min routes from a restricted runway such as SOU.

The 195 works on EDI/GLA to Brum, problem is it's mainly a business route and so requires frequency, frequency dilutes the yield. Then the management in their wisdom decided to compete with themselves by starting EMA services, doh!

195 from SOU works operationally but not commercially, not good yield, about 40 seats too short for that.

Flybe are about to get some ex easy 319's, but will not be operated from SOU, but will slot in nicely onto the recently announced Brum to the sun routes.

Just a shame all the good folk have left and eventually all the rest who can will leave, then it will be the 'buy a job' brigade brought in to fly the 'new' old airbie.

[insuindi]

"Flybe are about to get some ex easy 319's" ???!

[Set 1013]

Ex easy 319's?!?!

What planet are you living on? :ugh:

I would love to be proven wrong!:hmm:

[bean]

In what way are staff treated with contempt
If this is about the job losses it's abundantly clear that there would be no Flybe
unless this had happened. And I would think that job security will be greatly enhanced for those staying on.

Leg. Should you move to another outfit i'm sure we all look forward to a barrage of twisted, cynical, disloyal and inaccurate comments about your new employer

[NickBarnes]

a319's i can't believe that one minute, if that happens i will give everyone on here a £10 note :D

[Barling Magna]

No you won't.

[bean]

Bookings must be fantastic on the new sun routes from BHX announced just five days ago because-if Leg is to be believed:rolleyes: capacity is to rise by 75%

[adfly]

Interestingly I notice that the BHX-PMI/ALC routes are on sale until the end of September, does this give some hope to the SOU and EXT routes, possibly suggesting they will return next year. According to the initial Flybe turnaround plan they were going to cut down to about 8 E195's, and also considering the frequencies are higher than ever on many of the routes (7x weekly SOU-AGP/PMI/ALC/FAO in the peak months). This makes me doubt that they are definitely going to be dropped permanently.

Also, if a one of Flybe's E175's can make it from FLR's 1750m runway for the 2hr 15min flight to BHX then I'd imagine SOU-ALC/PMI/NCE should be possible at the very least.

[davidjohnson6]

adfly - are you asking about whether an aircraft is physically capable of performing a flight between 2 airports with a full cabin, or are you asking about whether the aircraft would be commercially viable ?

Plenty of competing flights to AGP / ALC / PMI / FAO / NCE on larger aircraft than an E175 with lower unit cost to the airline per passenger. Very few competing flights to the tourist honeypot that is Florence, particularly from LCCs.

Admittedly Pisa central station, 1 mile from the airport, has a good train service to Florence centre though...

[NickBarnes]

No you won't.


Your right i won't because i think it is a very very very safe bet

[adfly]

I'd be interested if it is be physically capable of operating said routes from SOU, 88 seats shouldn't be too much to fill even at higher prices than the competition. After all Flybe are trying the E175 on some similar routes from BHX, with direct competition from ZB/FR on larger aircraft that are cheaper to operate per passenger. And I do agree FLR is a different route on which the E175 is more likely to be a suitably sized aircraft.

[RDM]

Does anybody know how many Embraer pilots will be going compared to Dash? Seeing that a lot of the routes from Birmingham are on the Embraers.

[bad bear]

The official line is that...
The carrier has pared job cuts to 450 positions from 500 forecast in November after deciding to continue some services it was going to cut, Hammad said

Personally, I'm confused. I would guess that if all the "at risk" pilots go and assuming the uncertainty drove quite a few guys to look for other jobs and are now waiting to for start dates, there could be a bit of a pilot shortage in 3-4 months time. Could be a busy year for the training department.


bb

[Leg]

1013 & Barnes, my friend heard it straight from the DFO's own mouth, is that good enough for you. :confused:

Barnes, send my £10 to the 'Chest, Heart & Stroke' charity, there's a good chap :ok:

Bean, are you for real? And I would think that job security will be greatly enhanced for those staying on.
If you do believe that then you are delusional son. :rolleyes:

Yes, the training dept is about to be very busy over the company months as who in their right mind is going to stay with this bunch? Youngsters trying to get enough hours to leave & oldies cruising to retirement, everyone else, going, going, gone... :ooh:

[Set 1013]

Leg, in my career at Flybe I have flown with the DFO several times. He is a very nice guy but Im quite sure he will not divulge the company plans including proposed fleet purchases to his pilots. I'm sure he will hold that card much closer to his chest.

So to answer your question. Your mates girl friend's brother who heard it from the DFO's own mouth does not satisfy me we are getting ex EZY 319's.

Anything is possible though!:ok:

[Alycidon]

Would the A319s be wetleased? This might have a positive impact on job security in the long term, but not for the summer.

I've heard that pilots have been moved off the "at risk" list, but admittedly that was from one of the refuellers!

[SWBKCB]

Sounds like the experiment in 2005/06 with the 737s leased from Astraeus?

[Tinwald]

Any of you flybe fellas know how the aircraft that the rock is going to have staying here overnight for Liverpool and Brum is going to come from. And what about crew cos weve got them here to work the flights.:confused:

[stab3.5up]

I overheard a men telling his mate that a good friend of his heard from a man you had been told by a friend whos friends uncles ciusins sons best friends girlfriends mates hairdressers sons best friend in school whos dad flew with a guy who had sat beside a man who told him that as far as he had heard from his best friends mates golf partners brother that flybe are going transatlantic. So all rumours must be true!

[Monty Gordo]

With a total disregard for spelling, grammar and punctuation, i am afraid that post is gibberish!

[Cloud1]

Point that is being made is don't believe everything you hear - this is a rumour forum but sometimes generating a rumour is pointless without fact

For IOM believe it is a BHX and MAN Q400 as the BHX unit swaps in BHX where a crew swap takes place also

[sarnold]

Tinwald

Currently flybe have 3 DH4's based in the IOM as well as the crews. From S14 this will go down to two aircraft night-stopping as well as 16 crew being put up in a hotel each night to operate them.

One A/C will be a MAN shuttle 5 Daily and the other will operate IOM-LPL-IOM-BHX-NOC-BHX-IOM-LPL-IOM-LPL-IOM.

[Tinwald]

Cheers for that sarnold. But does that mean the island fellas are going to be accommodated at their own base and will work the flights.:confused:

[ib26uk]

Anybody know when Flybe have flights on sale from November 2014 onwards?

[pabely]

As for leasing EZY319's, why would EZY do this when they are short of capacity themselves and are leasing Titan aircraft all summer???

[Deano777]

pabely

I think the rumour is more to do with acquiring "ex" easy 319s when they offload rather than wet lease. With news this big I don't think anything would be divulged to the employees without it going to the city first. So I would hazard a guess that this rumour has surfaced due to our new CEOs easyjet connection and the offloading of our Ejet fleet. As with anything aviation related, though, a fortnight is a long time. Time will be the biggest teller.

[Lord Spandex Masher]

That and the lease cost of a 319 is about 60% of the 195.

Good bargaining French and Co.

[pabely]

ex frames is fine, then nothing to do with EZY, down to lessor of that frame.
I can't see EZY wanting to lease directly, they would rather see BE fail and pick up the crumbs!

[sarnold]

Tinwald

I know the majority of the crew here are all moving to other bases apart from some who have left the company. Our remaining IOM crew are going to be based in MAN/BHD/BHX/SOU when the base closes. I imagine the crew that will night stop here will be MAN/BHX crew so some of them will be put up over here occasionally. Some will still have their families on the island so will be trying to get as many night stops as they can. Whether or not Flybe will take this into account is another question

[Tinwald]

Thanks for clearing that up sarnold. They told us over here they were all out of a job and that a move to another base woouldn't be allowed - so you only here what they want you to hear. Still, good luck to them - still the blessed.

[22/04]

Can 319s do SOU-AGP etc. with a reasonable load?

I think 319s make sense for many routes out of MAN and BHX- what about a mix of 319s and Dash 8-400s to cover all routes ultimately

[E75toDUS]

22/04

Personally, I am pretty sceptical about the chances of BE A319s at BHX. If you look at the business routes that BE fly profitably, then 2x daily is desirable. Apart from e.g. FRA, AMS, CDG where there is connecting feed, these routes tend to be props or regional jets, because what customers want is not the somewhat cheaper fares that a BE A319 *might* allow, but more flights. I think this is a factor in why the E195 is being ditched in favour of the E175.

Secondly, the day BE get a route working well on A319s would probably the day that FR/EZY announce the same route and drive BE off.

Finally, BE is a listed company. Any major strategic initiative, such as a major fleet change, would count as market sensitive information. Whilst this doesn't make a rumour true or false, an employee/contractor allowing this to go into the public domain could be in deep trouble.

[kcockayne]

Another scurrilous rumour;- I hear that Flybe may close EGHI & relocate to 'HH.

[flyland]

Whence the E195 for the extra flights from Newquay, please?

[Cloud1]

kcockayne

A load of nonsense I'm afraid - SOU is a defensible base so no need to leave

[kcockayne]

Cloud 1

Thanks for the reply. The way it was explained to me was that the Embraers are performance limited at 'HI; BAA charge £30 + per pax; No limitations would exist at HH; & HH would charge considerably less.
Sounded quite plausible, to me.
Although, HH doesn't have the rail line & Flybe have been trying to sell HI to us in the C.I. by emphasising its alternative status as a Gatwick substitute.

[Cloud1]

Can understand that but no airline has really made Bournemouth work to the same extend as SOU. Whilst they are close together there is a larger market at SOU and few airlines can go in to compete. Flybe will be retaining 4 E195s of the 14 in service so there is no reason at least one can be based in SOU allowing some further European routes

[Artic Monkey]

Cloud1

You sure about that? I heard the other day that they are all offloaded by the end of the summer schedule.
Agreed, there's a reason BE aren't already at BOH. The lack of a real presence from anyone speaks volumes.

[OltonPete]

Artic Monkey

Interesting comments re the 195 and how would that affect the BHX and MAN to CDG services? Does anyone know how long the agreement has to run?

Manchester already gets a 175 back-up operating 30 minutes after the 195 early morning and a 175 on BHX would be useless with overall loads factors at 80%.

Also noted at times in the summer the BHX-BRU has four of the five flights operated by flybe compared to two to three now.

Pete

[Cloud1]

Well the summer schedule finishes at the end of October. The current plan is to remove 10 from service - 2 will be returned to the lessor shortly the others will be stored. That leaves 4 in continuing operation until the end of the summer season where I believe the intention is to continue using at least 2

As far as I am aware 1 will be BHX based to operate the CDG and the other is yet to be confirmed. Therefore I see no reason why it could not go in to SOU. However it is possible that these plans will change again and indeed if all E195s were to be removed there is no reason why Flybe would leave SOU in favour of anywhere else which was the original suggestion. I do not deny that we may see flights in to BOH but I simply cannot see them closing down SOU where they have the whole airport practically to themselves.

OP - If the E195 does go from BHX, what would stop them putting on 2 E175s like MAN? I think demand is there for 2 early morning departures - what do you reckon?

[Flitefone]

The challenge with the BOH and SOU catchments is the proximity to LHR and LGW. Those living north of SOU have more choice from LHR, and typically less than an hours drive. Those living east of SOU have the same position with LGW , although a little longer journey.

SOU survives mostly by virtue of those resident in the city of SOU and to its southwest and a few sensible travelers from Winchester and Portsmouth who value the ease of use of a local airport.

In other words SOU has the same catchment as BOH! It's rich, it's the largest non industrial population in Europe apparently, and feeds a great deal of traffic to LHR and LGW.

And that is the challenge for any operator at BOH and SOU.

I agree with Cloud, Flybe will stay at SOU, there is no reason to move so far as I can see.

[sarnold]

Tinwald

That was originally the case, but I think a few crew from the main bases have decided to leave the company and will need replacing. Flybe obviously didn't imagine that happening! Also the IOM wasn't scheduled to have any airframes night-stopping after the winter but now this is going to be two, and they will need the IOM crew to operate them, albeit being based across and night stopping on the island

[Leg]

Just the not so small matter that flybe LOST 6m last year operating from SOU :=

E75 to Dus, the 3 points you raise are null & void I am afraid son :mad:

[OltonPete]

Cloud1

No problem at all if they operate say 06.15 and 06.45 similar to the Manchester flights then it would be fine although I dare say it would involve moving 175's from other routes or airports. They would also need to double up on the evening as well unless Air France up their capacity.

A319's

I was told that these were under consideration but not definite.

Preveza -BHX-PVK has disappeared for summer but as per the Bristol thread flybe still showing as operating BHX-INN and SZG this summer but I suppose still time to change.

Pete

[Cloud1]

Leg, I think you will find Flybe lost money on a large number of routes last year so it comes as no surprise that a significant amount may have been from SOU as one of the largest bases.

The reality now is that costs have been driven down and the airline is now starting to make money on those routes. We cannot any longer go on previous financial data for the routes that have been retained following the route restructure

Flybe still have a reasonable charter programme this summer albeit not to the same extent as previous years. Cannot remember which routes were quoted to me but I guess all will become clear soon enough as the summer timetables kick in to action

[peter__griffin]

Any more news on the rumour of FlyBe starting some LCY services?

[Skipness One Echo]

Any more news on the rumour of FlyBe starting some LCY services?
They were forced out of LGW due to high users costs when GIP hiked prices for smaller aircraft. Prices at LCY are just as harsh if not higher I think?

[insuindi]

PURELY SPECULATIVE! But: Cityjet is reducing LCY, so LCY will be keen to attract additional custom. BE has the appropriate planes, do the DASH8/E175 need any steep approach equipment/training? Linked to this: Rumour is that FMO will announce a new London route to start in May, with an airline that has not previously flown regular FMO services... details will not be shared until in two weeks time as they are under strict instruction to keep their mouths shut. Now of course, that could simply be Easyjet, but to FMO, undermining their nearby DTM operations? As I say, just some thought spinning...

[Torquelink]

That and the lease cost of a 319 is about 60% of the 195.

And has a lower block-hour fuel burn.

[virginblue]

PURELY SPECULATIVE! But: Cityjet is reducing LCY, so LCY will be keen to attract additional custom. BE has the appropriate planes, do the DASH8/E175 need any steep approach equipment/training? Linked to this: Rumour is that FMO will announce a new London route to start in May, with an airline that has not previously flown regular FMO services...

I find it very hard to believe that Flybe would open up LCY by serving a destination such as FMO....

[insuindi]

@virginblue: agreed! in the case of FMO I'd be surprised for anyone to take up that destination from any LON airport though... (yet, that's what will be announced in two weeks)

[Skipness One Echo]

BE has the appropriate planes,
The company has a long history at LCY, mainly of major losses as Jersey European. Their business model changed and they moved away, if they went up against a very strong BA CityFlyer they'd get killed, they'd be CityJet, and given their tenuous financial situation, much too risky IMHO.

[iwak]

Noc to edi has appeared in the timetable from may to sept 2014 but still not available in the booking engine as a direct flight.Can anyone confirm it's return?

[Serenity]

A few years ago, Flybe , management ruled out LCY as it was too expensive to operate into.

[Deano777]

Serenity, we have different management now, and a lower cost base which is ever reducing.

[davidjohnson6]

Speaking hypothetically... if Flybe were to open at LCY, what routes could be offered with a reasonable chance of profitability, particularly considering this year's base closures ? I'm struggling to think of many routes...

[JobsaGoodun]

The information below (Source: CAPA) from Flybe's interim results from 03FEB suggests that ten of the fourteen E195's will be grounded from Flybe operations leaving four to operate over the S14 season. At the end of S14, these four will also stop flying.

This only indicates that Flybe do not intend to use the aircraft themselves, and not that they wouldn't use them on contract flying opportunities if these presented themselves. The CEO has already commented that they are trying to minimise the impact of the aircraft grounding if possible.

As part of its restructuring programme (see below), Flybe will ground 10 Embraer E195 aircraft by the end of Mar-2014 and the remaining four of this type by the end of northern hemisphere summer 2014. CEO Saad Hammad told analysts on a conference call to discuss the 3Q results that the E195 does not make sense in the context of Flybe’s operations. He views the group’s turboprops as the core of the fleet, although there continues to be a role for the smaller regional jets.

Flybe is currently looking at ways to minimise the cost to Flybe of the planned aircraft groundings. These include discussions with third party airlines, including European flag carriers, about contract flying; and possible sub-leases or early hand-backs of leased aircraft (10 aircraft come to the natural end of their lease over the next 18 months anyway).

[Serenity]

UK floods: weather and storms - Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/topics/weather/10632568/UK-floods-weather-and-storms.html?frame=28204)


Another good one!

[GCILover]

I see that direct flights to Hannover has re-appeared in the SOU timetable but all flights when trying to book are routed through MAN.

Does anyone have anymore info on this

[Torquelink]

Flybe announced intention to raise £150m through new share issue of which £100m fully underwritten and £50m under open offer. To be used to increase liquidity, reduce fleet costs and develop new routes / additional white label flying.

[davidjohnson6]

Known in finance as a secondary equity public offering. Company is in trouble and board needs a pile of cash to turn around the business. Banks won't lend enough cash at an affordable interest rate and a bond issue just ain't gonna work either.

Board will need to present a clear case to shareholders as to why they should stump up so much cash in comparison to existing market capitalisation. Flybe will get the cash as the deal has been underwritten, but the airline is probably paying between £5m and £10m in underwriting fees

[BasilBush]

You have to admire their chutzpah! Those investors in the original IPO paid 295p for their shares, only to see the price drop steadily to 40p or so (before recovering to the current 115p). Unless investors are really convinced that Hammad has got it right this time (unlike the previous management team) I'd be inclined to think of the old adage "once bitten twice shy".

[edi_local]

Don't suppose this is the right place to ask, but worth a shot.

I have booked CFN-DUB-LHR with BA for a few weeks time. I have been issued with a BA PNR and it appears under my executive club manage my bookings section. I can choose a seat etc for the DUB-LHR BA operated leg, but the Loganair/BE leg is pretty much just there for my information.

I tried the BA PNR on the BE website to see if I could manage my booking for that leg, but nothing happens. Anyone know how I can maybe select a seat in advance for that bit of the journey or even check in online for it as BA won't allow me to do that bit either.

Many thanks in advance.

[jarvis123]

I don't think that they have the facilities for on line check in at CFN. As for seat selection on the CFN leg it is normally quiet so you will almost have the pick of any seat at check in, and if you don't get a seat you like, I am sure that if you have a word with the cabin crew, trim permitting, you will get to move. CFN is a long way from DUB and LHR, and I am not talking in terms of distance!

[Leg]

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.... ;)

New bases being slated which will possibly use different aircraft than already operated, (not the 319's they will be on the BHX flightline) lots of development coming in the stated time frame, 12 to 24 months, so all will kick off next year... :ok:

[Leg]

Company is in trouble and board needs a pile of cash to turn around the business

Nonsense! Uneducated clap trap like that serves no purpose and I hope you get barred from this website forthwith. :ugh:

[LAX_LHR]

New bases being slated


So, flybe close a shed load of bases, absorb all the bad publicity associated with that, no doubt p*ss the people off who were made redundant, and then decide to open a raft of other new bases with apparently new aircraft to the fleet? What the actual........

Im sorry leg, you can put all the positive spin in the world to that, it still reeks of an airline without a clue. I mean, close all those bases to save money, and then go, 'look at all this money we have saved, lets open some new bases and lease new aircraft with it!'.

:ugh:

[davidjohnson6]

Flybe talk about using a big chunk of the £150m as being used to strengthen the balance sheet. This is code for "the company is under capitalised and badly needs more capital quickly". Lack of sufficient capital is the major cause of death of a very large number of firms who fail.

[Set 1013]

:eek:

LEG or should we call you Saad as you seem to know so much about the company and its exact future direction.

That is NOT what the management have said is it? I strongly suggest you read or reread the latest DFO's letter. The clue is in the detail.:)

[Torquelink]

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.

[Leg]

New bases? Yes it does sounds nuts, but that's what the docs state :=

As for looking at ATR's that's been known about for ages.

Larger jets will come, not this year maybe, but they are in the game plan.

Set 1013, son, read ALL the info you can find... ;)

Here's a wee pointer, it's not always what folk say, it's the way
they say it and what they don't say that tells the truth...

Then again maybe not, not everyone is cut out for this... :rolleyes:

[OltonPete]

The prop decision will be the interesting one and just some observations from the BHX schedules the last couple of days.

At least one DH8D "went missing" in Amsterdam yesterday afternoon (just positioned back) with one having already been replaced by a 195 on the afternoon Belfast, this was also compounded by problems with the 175 where BHX ended up with four (one was Jersey - Gatwick for some reason) but only two actually flying resulted in the much-maligned (cost-wise) 195 coming to the rescue once again.

The BHX base only has one 195 scheduled to operate in the week but actually three were flying yesterday, two of which on Q400's flight and the missing 175 flight (Glasgow) had to be cancelled. This morning it appears the first Belfast flight was cancelled, the second delayed at least three hours and this mornings Amsterdam is yet to depart.

The solution - ATR's? Well the AT76 seems to be a bit better than the ATR42 and ATR72 -500 but it might worthwhile flybe looking at Arann's OTP at times at BHX. To be fair most have suffered due to strong winds this winter but if this is going to be a feature of future winters it is something that needs to be considered.

Last Friday during the 21 inbound diverts the ORK-BHX diverted out of BHX to MAN! The last day or so has only seem one Arann cancellation, last night's Dublin but whether this was tech or operational I don't know and I would say it is the latter for today's four hour delay on the inbound Arann Dublin as this happened last Saturday....not just flybe with delays.

I doubt few aircraft offer the reliability of the 195 but if you can't fill them and the lease costs are too high I suppose you are going to have to always settle for second best but just maybe the 319 is their best bet for those longer routes if they intend to continue with them.

As for the prop debate the Q400 seems best when it is serviceable but patience must be wearing thin.

Pete

[descendwhenready]

As for the prop debate the Q400 seems best when it is serviceable but patience must be wearing thin.

Flybe's punctuality is actually above average (ref FLIGHTONTIME.info - Latest On-Time Performance Stats (http://flightontime.info/latest/latest.html)), and has been broadly similar to, if not better than, easyJet and Ryanair in recent years (ref FLIGHTONTIME.info - Low Cost Airline Delays & Punctuality in the UK (http://flightontime.info/loco/loco.html)).

[Anodyne]

Leg: sincerely hope you’re right in your conjecture about Airbii.

However it has occurred to some of us (of a more cynical disposition) at my base to wonder if the management, having ‘shaken the tree’ as they put it, have begun to realize they might have ‘shaken the tree’ a bit too hard, and too many of the baboons have dropped out and ambled off into the alternative employment jungle, such that its likely there’s going to be a bit of a problem crewing the new ambitious summer schedule.
Now if that were the case, might our management seek to cling on to those of us left, who are considering alternative opportunities, by seeding a vague rumor about the possibility of Airbuses? – Certainly someone down in Exeter seems to be having a laugh by putting an Airbus picture on the AIMs check in screens, but cant help thinking the clouds in the background just might be those in ‘cloud cuckoo land’.

[BFS BHD]

Does anyone no when Flybe will be putting their winter 2014/15 flights on sale?

Thanks :)

[Cloud1]

Anodyne, your post did make me laugh. Typical exaggeration....AIMS will show an airbus when the system defaults to factory settings which was exactly what happened. I Am led to believe it was soon changed back to Flybes personalised image background

Now let's get back to reality - £155 million approved through selling shares. Time to start spending some of it as per the investor pages online. The next 12 months could be interesting

[El Bunto]

Arann have been having a rotten time with the ATRs in the winds this winter, but the ATR72 actually has a higher cross-wind limit than the Q400 ( 35 vs 32 knots ).

Not a huge difference but handy to have in the back pocket.

[adfly]

I wonder if any of Flybe's future E175's will get the new winglets that have been quietly introduced recently?

[Cloud1]

Can you link to the 'new' winglets as Flybe embraers already have winglets

[adfly]

Article here: Embraer details E-Jet efficiency improvements - 9/13/2013 - Flight Global (http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/embraer-details-e-jet-efficiency-improvements-390504/)

http://i.picresize.com/EA9A Right click the image and open in a separate tab, the original was massive so I have resized it.

[Cloud1]

Thanks, so potentially not wing tips as we know today but more like the Dreamliner style wing

[adfly]

Indeed, they seem to be a halfway house between 'traditional' winglets and raked wingtips, which is what will feature on the next gen Embraers. There is discussion of this on a.net, and mentions of up to 6.4% fuel savings compared with the existing winglets, which is a very significant difference for one smallish aerodynamic change.

[EMB-145LR]

The first new E175 with the new winglets was rolled out the other day. Embraer posted this on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFEM1vcDrYE&feature=youtu.be

[Cloud1]

Video is interesting

Am I missing something here but how is that anything like the wing of a Dreamliner as per their quote online.

It's just like someone has sat on the current wingtips and flattened them a bit ultimately increasing the width of the aircraft. Could this have any impact on parking at SOU if future 175s go in and out regularly?

[adfly]

Apparently the wingspan increases to 28.7 metres, which is about the same as the E190/5. SOU's stands are all ~29m wide so parking for them should not be a problem. A mix of the rumoured starter strip/150m runway extension and these new winglets could be very beneficial for SOU...

[MUFC_fan]

Significant announcement due this week. Tomorrow morning would seem the obvious choice...

[BHD2BFS]

Quite a big change from what I hear :oh:

[BFS101]

Belfast base getting their brief Tuesday afternoon at the Stormont Hotel.

Believe the future's purple!!!

[GAZMO]

Please enlighten us!!!

[BFS BHD]

Please enlighten us!!!

Yes please do!! :ok:

[BFS101]

FlyBE crew already have been receiving emails, nothing specific, but little hints being dropped as to where BE are going. To build suspense leading up to the announcement this week.

New female cabin crew uniform already been displayed, all very nice, with addition of pill-box hats!!

Rumours abound, what's true and what's not remains to be seen, some are even already mentioning purple mood lighting on the aircraft... I wait with bated breath as much as the next man, for confirmation of what's planned.

[GAZMO]

Interesting !!!

Raise loads of money through share issue.........and we change the staff uniform.

Can't wait until Tuesday

[Lord Spandex Masher]

Interesting !!!

Raise loads of money through share issue.........and we change the staff uniform.


...back to purple!

[stab3.5up]

Yes I believe a purple paint job for the fleet. Like tht will sort the problems out!

[Volmet South]

Purple paint, does that mean the company is being marooned ?

;)

[NickBarnes]

Hope it's not too bright and garish if they are changing to purple

[El Bunto]

Much of the Q400 fleet is looking a little tatty externally and is probably coming up for a repaint anyhow - normal lifespan of aircraft paint is around 10 years.

So as they cycle through scheduled maintenance there's an oppotunity to adopt the new livery for nominal cost ( assuming they haven't stockpiled millions of gallons of now-obsolete FlyBE blue ).

[stab3.5up]

I believe same purple as on I think last square of logo

[hampshireandy]

Nice to see an airline, supposedly on its knees a short while ago, getting its priorities right. Everything in the garden will now be rosy, sorry, purple.

[vectisman]

When I started to read these forums a few years ago I was fascinated by the information shared and the ideas discussed. Debate seemed to be of a higher standard and rarely personal.


However in recent months the negativity that has been creeping in has saddened me. There appear to be a growing number of posters who delight in making carping criticisms of anybody or anything of which they disapprove. They rarely offer credible alternatives or reasoned argument. I sometimes wonder how the civil airline industry survives without employing the wisdom of the numerous armchair airline CEOs on some of these threads.


It would be intolerable if these worldwide respected forums became the home to 'trolls'.


For example we have a 'rumoured' announcement by Flybe of some changes to corporate identity. Does this really warrant such sarcastic and scornful responses?
I have no connection with the company. I am just making an observation.


Likewise I find the idea of 'loving' or 'hating' an airline quite absurd. Maybe people who get so emotional about a non-living entity need to get out more!!


So please lets keep it informative and interesting. Of course there will be disagreement and debate but it doesn't have to be unpleasant or personal.


V.

[NickBarnes]

vectisman such a good post:ok:, 1 third of the people on here have no life and need to get out more, they just enjoy being rude and putting negative posts just to cause argument, how sad must someone's life be to do that:ugh:

[adfly]

I am also in agreement with vectisman. I am very curious to find out what will happen with Flybe. I'd imagine a change to their corporate colours and appearance could be the front of a wider change in business model, though this is purely speculation.

[Cloud1]

Many exciting things coming from Flybe over the coming weeks. Things are changing - and those not part of it, or still stuck in the past, are often those with bitter tongues.

[bad bear]

Great to hear there is a turnaround at Flyby. When 500 redundancies it looked bad but I guess many of the redundancies were withdrawn as the new routes were announced?
Did any pilots get laid off? Are Flybe recruiting pilots again? The Gatwick routes go this weekend so the extent of redeployment of the planes should be clear soon.


bb

[Whispering Giant]

Taken from the LSE news wire this morning.

FLYBE GROUP PLC
('Flybe' or 'the Group')

Franchise agreement with Stobart Air serving new routes into London Southend Airport

Flybe announces that it has reached agreement with Stobart Air, a Stobart Group business, for a five year franchising agreement at London Southend Airport.

Under this new agreement, Stobart Air (formerly Aer Arann) will operate new routes from London Southend Airport in partnership with Flybe. Flybe has proven experience as a franchisor, most notably with Loganair who have 17 aircraft operating in Flybe colours.

The franchise operation will commence on 5th June with two 72 seat ATR aircraft in Flybe livery. Tickets go on sale via Flybe.com on 3rd April to a mix of destinations in Benelux and Northern Europe.

It is estimated that passenger numbers on the six routes will increase to approximately 200,000 per annum in 2015.

The franchise agreement has been structured to accommodate additional aircraft and routes if required.

Saad Hammad, Chief Executive Officer of Flybe, said:

"We are delighted to be extending the Flybe brand further into the South-East. Today's news is also further evidence of our commitment to providing true regional connectivity across the UK and we look forward to unveiling a major programme of new base and route development over the coming months."

Andrew Tinkler, Chief Executive of Stobart Group, said:

"This agreement represents an exciting expansion of our relationship with Flybe. London Southend Airport is an ideal access point for Flybe customers travelling to and from London and the South East and we look forward to welcoming them."

ENDS

[Lord Spandex Masher]

Wheres the "regional connectivity" when you're flying from the UK to Europe?

[LTNman]

Win Win for Flybe. They make money while Stobart carries the losses.

[tophat27dt]

Oh c'mon. How do you know how many passengers will be carried on these new flights, and what the profits will be. Negative thinking as always (and jealous I hope).

[compton3bravo]

That is the problem - we don´t. Some of the destinations being suggested sound to me like 10 to 20 pax max. How many people from the Essex and surrounding areas would want to go to Groningen - lovely city and oil related while Essex is not. Be very afraid I am sorry to say plus the lead-in time is not ideal - not much time for publicity, advertising etc. Sorry to be so negative but that is how I see it.

[Cyrano]

That is the problem - we don´t. Some of the destinations being suggested sound to me like 10 to 20 pax max. How many people from the Essex and surrounding areas would want to go to Groningen - lovely city and oil related while Essex is not. Be very afraid I am sorry to say plus the lead-in time is not ideal - not much time for publicity, advertising etc. Sorry to be so negative but that is how I see it.

To take Groningen as an example, I wouldn't expect many passengers from Essex - but that's not really the target market IMHO: I'd expect the traffic to be maybe 80%+ Dutch. The attraction is not Essex (or Groningen), the attraction is that this is a convenient direct flight to London for a market that doesn't have such a service.

Some other destinations may have a higher proportion of UK-originating traffic but in general I see the marketing task as telling people in a few distinct and relatively small continental European markets that they now have the option of a direct flight to London.

[serko]

Stobart don't need to make a profit on the flights just approach break even. Each passenger through Southend generates £20 for Stobart. so 200000 passengers will generate around £4million

[davidjohnson6]

A company that manages only breakeven on a regular basis is ignoring the cost of capital. Running an airline is a capital intensive business and failure to make profits can only end in tears.

The conglomerates of the 1980s are no longer fashionable for a reason...

[LTNman]

To take Groningen as an example, I wouldn't expect many passengers from Essex - but that's not really the target market IMHO: I'd expect the traffic to be maybe 80%+ Dutch. The attraction is not Essex (or Groningen), the attraction is that this is a convenient direct flight to London for a market that doesn't have such a service.

With no early trains from London or late trains to London Johny Foreigner will have a problem getting to and from London if the departure time from Southend is before 7:45am or arrives back after 22:30.

Each passenger through Southend generates £20 for Stobart. so 200000 passengers will generate around £4million

How do you work that one out. I doubt that Southend will charge anything for handling their own aircraft so it will cost Southend money. There are next to no shops at Southend to generate retail income which just leaves car parking and with all those Dutch who have left their cars in Holland they won't be using the car parks either.

I can only think of Manston that had its own airline to generate passengers and we all know how that ended.

I hope it all works out but I think it will be tough going.

[EI-BUD]

I doubt that Southend will charge anything for handling their own aircraft

Of course Southend will charge for their aircraft . SEN is a distinct and separate entity with its own costs. Stobart Air would need to be paying at least the same amount as easyJet. Any entrants who could potentially enter the airport in the future on the same routes (as hypothetical as that may be) would have to bd offered the same deal as Stobart.


Where on earth did the £20 figure comf from ? Totally arbitrary and pie in the sky, as other contributors have said few retail outlets, not all passengers parking and if easyJet are paying more than £1 - £2 per passenger I'd be surprised.

Serko, what is your source of this £20 figure?

[serko]

From the stobart interim results presentation in fact the precise figure is £10.66 per passenger. Those tourists who don't pay for parking will probably get the train at the stobart operated station. Or hire a car. All of which are revenue generating. Stobart also run the airport retail themselves.

[Cyrano]

Stobart Air would need to be paying at least the same amount as easyJet. Any entrants who could potentially enter the airport in the future on the same routes (as hypothetical as that may be) would have to bd offered the same deal as Stobart.

Are you really sure about that?

I can think offhand of several airports who offer new-route discounts, available only to the first carrier to start a route and not to any subsequent competitor entering that route. Are they doing something wrong?

[mikkie4]

Where is the furthest FLYBE could get to from SEN? also would they be willing to use their jets as well as their ATRs?

[BAladdy]

Hopefully it will be two new ATR72's that will be used and not the two oldest ATR72's (EI-REH & EI-REI). Personally I think BE willadd the following destinations from SEN

Maastricht (MST) - - Could be launched to replace FR's STN service that is due to end at the end of this week.

Münster-Osnabrück (FMO) - Could be launched to replace WX's LCY service that is due to end at the end of this week.

Nuremburg (NUE) - Could be launched to replace WX's LCY service that is due to end at the end of this week.

Rennes (RNS) - Destination already served by BE.

[LTNman]

From the stobart interim results presentation in fact the precise figure is £10.66 per passenger. Those tourists who don't pay for parking will probably get the train at the stobart operated station. Or hire a car. All of which are revenue generating. Stobart also run the airport retail themselves.

Revenue for the Stobart Air division was £10.4m (2012: £7.9m) and the divisional profit before tax was £0.1m (2012: loss £0.3m)

[Badabingabadabing]

I can only think of Manston that had its own airline to generate passengers and we all know how that ended.

Sutton Harbour Holdings. They would have got away with, too, if it weren't for French&Rutter...

[SWBKCB]

**Thread drift alert**

Didn't Eastern and Humberside airport have the same owner at one stage?

[insuindi]

@BAladdy The six destination are set to be in Benelux and Northern Europe. Munster-Osnabruck may be considered as Northern Europe in the widest sense. Nuremberg and Rennes probably not (also given the FR service STN-NUE I doubt NUE would be a good idea at all from SEN with a Turboprop). EDIT: according to independent.ie "six routes for Flybe from the UK to destinations in the Benelux, France and Germany. Details of the exact routes won't be unveiled until next week." As such may Rennes be a possibility after all, and I guess FMO a given.

[LN-KGL]

And "at one stage" is now SWBKCB

[Set 1013]

I suspect MAN will appear as a route feeding the Flybe domestic hub. I also think CDG will be a route feeding an international hub. AMS is already served by Easyjet. Just my thoughts.

[Flightrider]

Nuremburg is an awfully long way in an ATR72 from London. Maastricht possibly, Groningen possibly, but perhaps some destinations in northern France?

[SealinkBF]

Dart Group springs to mind... a logistics group that started an airline.

[toledoashley]

Nuremberg also has a Ryanair daily flight from STN, which should be more than enough uplift.

[LN-KGL]

The joint flybe/Stobart Air press release states "six new routes to Northern Europe and Benelux countries". Now it all depends of what flybe/Stobart Air consider Northern Europe to be, but if we look at what United Nations and the European Union defines as Northern Europe; Germany isn't a part of Northern Europe. Northern Europe is the Nordic countries (minus Greenland) and the three Baltic countries. UN and EU don't agree about the status of the British Isles - EU include the British Isles in Western Europe while UN will have the British Isles to be a part of Northern Europe.


If we consider flybe/Stobart Air know what Northern Europe is, then we may be talking about a very few airports: airports in Denmark (EBJ and AAL are the only with no flights to STN), airports on the south west coast of Norway (SVG and BGO) and one airport on the west coast of Sweden (GOT). All these airports mentioned are less than 600 nautical miles from SEN, which I think a maximum leg length should be for the ATR.

[ATNotts]

Nuremburg is an awfully long way in an ATR72 from London

I flew on a Eurowings ATR from STN to NUE back in 2001. If recall correctly it was flown on LH flight numbers. Didn't seem to be that arduous. Subsequently I used the excellent Air Berlin service until it was shifted to LGW which was inconvenient for anyone travelling from north of London (or in my case, the Midlands).

However, NUE is primarily a business route, with point to point traffic, but it never seems to work at the frequency that business would like - that is 2 x daily.

I would say it is a prime route for FlyBe - but not from SEN. BHX might make more sense - but I wouldn't put my house on it.

[insuindi]

@LN-KGL:
Benelux+Northern Europea appears to have been redefined here...

according to independent.ie "six routes for Flybe from the UK to destinations in the Benelux, France and Germany. Details of the exact routes won't be unveiled until next week."

[adfly]

When can we expect to hear the major announcement relating to 'purple' as it does not seem as though the Stobart Air franchise fits the description of this. Hopefully Flybe can benefit from this agreement though.

[BFS101]

Apparently next week is the big launch to the public, including television commercials. An aircraft currently undergoing painting as we speak. Entire front section of the fuselage will be purple, leading to white tail and new FlyBE branding.

New purple carpets, and purple mood lighting to interior.

Music played again when passengers board, chocolate distributed as passengers disembark. New male and female uniforms.

And a 60 60 guarantee. Should your flight be over an hour late, due to no fault of FlyBE, you will be given £60 worth of credit for your next FlyBE flight to be used within 30 days (possibly 60 days, details of that last bit escape me).

[adfly]

Very interesting! I assume they have worked some magic on the Q400's otherwise that last new policy could get very expensive!

[AirGuru]

Sounds very good, but surely a few of them things add to the airlines cost base, that most airlines look to reduce, not increase ?

However, i think it's due that the aircraft all got some TLC in some way, as some are getting on, and are beginning to look a little tatty. Are there any new bases etc. to be announced in this ? If so, what are likely bases/routes ?

[Cloud1]

Just to correct BFS101 the 60:60 only applies when the delay IS the fault of Flybe. Therefore there will be no hand outs in the event of weather or strikes etc

60 mins late, £60 voucher for use within 60 days

[BFS101]

Sorry, Cloud1, of course that is correct.

[TCAS_Alert]

Plus of course your EU compensation after 3 hours.

Although FlyMayBe will presumably find a way to get out of paying a penny with numerous clauses attached to it.

[Tonyq]

TCAS - Very unfair and ill-informed comment.

I have had two such claims (one of which was weather related, and the other a crew issue) met without question by FlyBe in the last 6 months. They even gave the choice of a 50% uplift in the compensation if it was taken in travel vouchers.

The total sum received was £900, and they even allowed it to be redeemed for pax who were not on the disrupted flights.

All in all, they couldn't have been fairer.