Flybe - 8

[AdamThePassenger]

New thread since the old one is now locked.

I was wondering about the BE LCY to Aberdeen service. BE1xxx codes that this route utilises are generally reserved for flights operated by flybe, and they show up on FR24 as BEExxx instead of LOGxxx but are invariably operated by Loganair Saab 2000s. What is going on? Is it a Loganair route, or are BE just short of LCY-trained crews?

On an unrelated note, any news on what happened to BE/ST ATR 72-500 EI-REM would be greatly appreciated :) (Location, future, etc.)

Kind Regards, Adam

[Cloud1]

When LCY was first set up there was only a certain number of steep approach Dash 8s. Loganair therefore operate the Flybe service for them on the Saab however now that some routes by Flybe have been removed it frees up a S/A aircraft. I think it will end up going to a Flybe Dash at some point.

[Skipness One Echo]

This is why LCY sees the same aircraft, almost all in new colours?

[Cloud1]

This is why LCY sees the same aircraft, almost all in new colours?

Yep - the only steep approach aircraft are all in purple. I think they are (although happy to stand corrected) -BE, -BD, -DU, -DR, -DT, -DP. Typically those that are named "The Spirit Of" with the exception of "The Spirit Of Liberum"

It is quite nice to see the original Flybe colours going in, in the form of the Saab. As I say I think this will change now that no S/A aircraft is required in INV and nor will it be required soon at DUB.

Also as a side note Loganair have just painted one of their Dornier's in the new purple livery. Looks much better in my opinion compared to the Dash!

[Cloud1]

Oh and possibly -CF.... This would actually leave 1 more than needed (DUB,INV,EDI,EXT,BHD) so maybe one of those on my list above is incorrect or one has had the modification later and only after LCY "base" was opened

[Devonair]

Why are Flybe so late with their winter timetable? They released their summer timetable much later than their competitors and it appears the same is happening with their winter timetable. I reckon 95% of comments on their Facebook page are related to when flights will become available and the narrative from their Social Media staff has changed from end of April, Beginning of May, Middle of May, end of May beginning of June... Very frustrating when all they offer is the e news sign up and you want to book an intercontinental flight which uses Flybe on a domestic UK sector. Surely it is better to release early and get money in the bank? As a former Airline (not Flybe) employee, I'm perplexed.

[ATNotts]

Why are Flybe so late with their winter timetable? They released their summer timetable much later than their competitors and it appears the same is happening with their winter timetable. I reckon 95% of comments on their Facebook page are related to when flights will become available and the narrative from their Social Media staff has changed from end of April, Beginning of May, Middle of May, end of May beginning of June... Very frustrating when all they offer is the e news sign up and you want to book an intercontinental flight which uses Flybe on a domestic UK sector. Surely it is better to release early and get money in the bank? As a former Airline (not Flybe) employee, I'm perplexed.

As Flybe are primarily a business airline, especially so in the winter season, there is little point in putting the season on the market until 3 or so months before it starts. Most business people don't know what they're doing next wee, let alone in six months time.

If they were offering The Canaries, Egypt, Tunisia etc then, sure, announcing the schedule earlier makes sense, but they're not.

[El Bunto]

On an unrelated note, any news on what happened to BE/ST ATR 72-500 EI-REM would be greatly appreciated :) (Location, future, etc.)

Currently in for deep maintenance with Rheinland Services in Germany. Still on Stobart's books I believe but don't know when it will be finished.

[Cyrano]

As Flybe are primarily a business airline, especially so in the winter season, there is little point in putting the season on the market until 3 or so months before it starts.

I'd have to respectfully disagree. Yes, the business passengers will be late bookers, but flybe's clientele is by no means all business, and - especially on routes where there's competition - not having your flights on sale simply means that your prospective customers tend to choose your competitor instead.

(If flybe is so sure that it's got the capacity vs demand balance right that it can allow its competitor to fill up with early-booking low-yield traffic, and then swoop in later and take the higher-yield late-booking traffic, then I stand corrected, but some recent network decisions would not give me confidence that the flyBE Commercial department is that sort of finely-oiled precision machine... ;) )

[Devonair]

Flybe are also increasingly becoming a feeder airline; through MAN, AMS, CDG, DUB etc - you only have to look at the increasing number of codeshares to see that. I would think that this is becoming an important part of their business. I for one want to book a long haul leisure flight using Flybe and can't - GDS usually display flights up to 350 days. The lack of flights beyond October on their codeshare routes operated by Flybe is, I would imagine, making people switch to alternative carriers. I'll be making a booking shortly... with other carriers!

[Cleared For A Coffee]

Speaking of codeshares, is the new Liverpool-Amsterdam route actually getting a codeshare? That was the whole point of the route.

It starts in September and there still haven't been any codeshares announced, yet Liverpool have been marketing the route as a hub connection. Very misleading.

[Skipness One Echo]

How much does codesharing make flybe? Revenue tends to flow to the longer haul portion of the ticket, let's remember BMI codeshared with everyone and that did not end well.

Are they doing it to be seen to be doing something (like LCY-INV/DUB/EXT.....) or because it's a decent revenue stream?

[Rivet Joint]

There seem to be strong voices from both camps on whether this new management are doing good things or are completely and utterly clueless.


Someone please explain why on my travels this week I saw advertisements for their BOH operation in both Southampton and Winchester. I mean talk about cutting your nose off to spite your face, shooting yourself in the foot etc etc. Why would BE advertise in areas which are already being served by their SOU base? More to the point who in their right mind would drive from Winchester or Southampton to BOH when they can fly with the same airline at more convenient times at SOU?


Do EZY advertise their LTN base around LGW or their LPL in MAN? Sorry but this lot are clueless.

[Ian Brooks]

have seen Easyjet and Ryanair liverpool adds in Manchester

[Flitefone]

The advertising for BOH appears to be an airport campaign, not Flybe. Makes perfect sense.

No different than past campaigns by SOU airport. The catchments overlap.

FF

[adfly]

Because some people might commute from somewhere equidistant from the two of nearer to BOH, and the likes of Deauville, Biarritz and Toulon are not served from SOU. How are Flybe shooting themselves in the feet by encouraging people to fly with Flybe from BOH in addition to Flybe from SOU anyway?

[virginblue]

I was slightly amused today that Flybe was deprived of some free advertising today when Sky News showed the approach of an BACF Embraer 190 on finals into LCY live, filmed from a helicopter, stating that Nicola Sturgeon was arriving on that plane from Edinburgh. In fact she was apparently travelling on a BE Q400...

[Letsflycwl]

With the new CWL base opening in less than a month, does anyone know or have any thoughts what the winter season will bring ? Will there be more ski flights or sun flights for the 2 Embraers ?

[cornishsimon]

And are the E95s getting the purple treatment ?


cs

[Lord Spandex Masher]

I was slightly amused today that Flybe was deprived of some free advertising today when Sky News showed the approach of an BACF Embraer 190 on finals into LCY live, filmed from a helicopter, stating that Nicola Sturgeon was arriving on that plane from Edinburgh. In fact she was apparently travelling on a BE Q400...

They did show the purple monstrosity at some point during the day.

Looked like a greaser, if a bit long. Not sure she deserved more than the 'standard Dash' landing mind.

[compton3bravo]

I would assume you were talking about the Krankies daughter which used to dress in the style of Angela Merkel!

[virginblue]

Soon she can use the LCY-capable Scot Force One....

http://2.bp.********.com/-ZuIQU3TG62A/VOEJf8BsPyI/AAAAAAAAJ8U/3Yh9HVm7wc4/s1600/917_C-GLVA_TIM_MARTIN_VICTORIA_14FEB2015_EJC_1024.jpg

[The Hypnoboon]

There has been sum murmurings in the local press that FlyBe may be considering a London City to Prestwick flight.

Does anyone know if this is accurate or just some fanciful reporting?

[Skipness One Echo]

It's utter fancy.

[davidjohnson6]

Skipness - there is of course the possibility that London-Prestwick gets turned into a PSO route with an aircraft of at least 75 seats being required in the bidding documents.
I know it would be a waste of taxpayers' money but weirder things have happened...

[cornishsimon]

Does anyone know the finer details of the BE contract at city ? Are they contracted to keep a certain number of rotations per day or so many passengers etc ?


cs

[bean]

Of course CornishSimon lots of people know, so, lets's give away extremely sensitive information so thst the lunatics can once again take over the asylum and bedlam can once again prevail over this prematurely re opened thread

[learjet50]

Totally agree

No body is going to give this info to a complete stranger

All Airlines must have there own agreements with varying Airport

So they will not be stating any details whatsoever

I'm amazed the Question was ever asked

[Cloud1]

C/S - hopefully my reply will not be quite so curt. I suspect some on here do know but I agree in that it probably would not be in anyone's interests sharing it. We can of course speculate - so let's say it is a 5 year deal where Flybe have to ensure XXX number of weekly or monthly sectors or it could be XXX number of passenger throughput. If it were the latter it may explain why nothing has replaced the INV and DUB routes other than the odd additional EDI or BHD which I understand have good solid numbers and possibly better than initially anticipated.

[jensdad]

Does anyone know when the winter (well, w/c 26th Oct) flights are available for booking ? Ta .

[Bjarte]

Some flights are bookable already. Southend flights for instance.

[AdamThePassenger]

Flybe aren't best known for updating their website quickly, according to their destination A-Z they still fly to Antwerp, Donegal and Waterford :P

[lfc84]

Birmingham Flybe pilot drowned neighbours' pet dog after barking saw him 'lose his sanity' - Birmingham Mail (http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/birmingham-flybe-pilot-drowned-neighbours-9296651)



@flybe

Flybe genuinely appalled. Sincerest sympathy to family. Taking this extremely seriously. Cpt Woodhouse suspended pending full investigation.

[bean]

Great!
More stupidity & irrelevance on the latest Flybe thread
I give up:ugh:

[Shed-on-a-Pole]

In the light of the recent Andreas Lubitz case, paying attention to the mental health of senior aircrew in the most responsible of positions is NOT irrelevant. Without referring to this incident in particular, any everyday situation which sees an airline captain "lose his sanity" with bizarre and troubling results warrants close investigation.

[adfly]

If all of the know it all internet warriors vowing to boycott Flybe on their Facebook page for the (admittedly very disturbing and frankly disgusting) actions of one pilot I do wonder if they do this for every company where such an incident happens, there probably wouldn't be many left for them to use regardless of the industry! Perhaps somebody should remind them all how many crashes all of the 'deranged' and 'mentally unstable' beings they hire to be pilots have caused in the last 13 years... :=

[AdamThePassenger]

In other news, SEN-based EI-REL has now gone to Germany to join EI-REM, presumably on mx. Stobart "hot spare" EI-REH is now operating the BE franchise. This is just a theory, but I personally suspect that Stobart are looking to do some fleet standardisation and will sell both ATR 72-500s. This will leave the ATR 42s and ATR 72-600s for EIR, EI-REH as hot spare (as it has been for ages) and EI-REI for BE when the CityJet contract ends at the end of June.

Adam

[davidjohnson6]

Flybe put flights from late Oct 2014 to early Jan 2015 on sale in late April 2014
It's now late May 2015, and (apart from Southend which isn't exactly a major Flybe base) and Loganair, there seems to be very little on sale beyond late October 2015

I know that publishing a schedule reduces an airline's flexibility to make subsequent significant changes, but Flybe in the past have not been averse to cancelling flights when it's been in their commercial interest.

At some point however, the business need for both cashflow must be an issue. Furthermore, even ignoring late booking business passenger, people will start to make plans for both half term in October 2015 and also Xmas 2015 by now - neither of which are available to book. Obvious as it is, the later flights go on sale, the less potential revenue to capture. Major legacy airlines release seats 11 months in advance and Easyjet / Ryanair released for winter 2015-16 about 2 months ago. Eastern already seem quite happy to take people's money for November. Average profit margins for Flybe are thin, so selling a few extra seats turns a loss making flight into a profitable one.

The only significant event I can see in June is the profits announcement on 10-Jun-2015 but I really can't understand why a winter schedule desperately needs to be linked to releasing the latest set of accounts.

So why on earth is it taking Flybe so long, notably at least a month later than last year, to start putting their product on sale ?

[insuindi]

On their Facebook page I think they said release would be due in frst 2 weeks of June. One can only assume that they are planning some significant adjustments to their network/timetable, if not this delay would make even less sense.

[JetJamie]

Should be released 4th June apparently

[adfly]

I do hope that date has more substance to it than the ones they were posting for the release of S15 a few months ago!

[Cloud1]

I see G-PRPL has started operating now - not sure when it's first flight was but it is doing EXT-DUB at the moment

[Flightrider]

So at a time when Ryanair is attributing part of its impressive profit improvement to getting flights on sale earlier, Flybe decide that the opposite strategy is a good idea... Or more likely, are so busy fire fighting that they just haven't had time to do it yet.

[kcockayne]

cloud1

PL was doing a UK-France service yesterday. I think it was Bergerac.

[Set 1013]

G-PRPL has been online for a week now.

[Cloud1]

Ahh I see it was the first time I had seen it on FR24. Does anyone know if there are any differences in the cabin as someone told me these were the next gen models?

[Nextprop]

Does anyone know if there are any differences in the cabin as someone told me these were the next gen models?

They are the NextGen models and do seem a little more modern in the cabin. They have the updated cabin including brighter LED lighting. There are pivoting overhead bins, which are smaller on the AB side for the first few rows.

[Wycombe]

I notice today that there have been 5 195's flying - 2 ex-SOU (Sunshine routes), 1 ex-EXT (Sunshine routes), 1 ex-BHX (CDG) and 1 ex-CWL (to EDI, JER, then CDG and DUB, with a large period of downtime between the first 2 and last 2 return trips).

The 1 CWL-based machine positioned down from MAN last night.

Is 5 the max. that is going to be operated, or is there another 1 to be activated when the 2nd at CWL is needed?

[cornishsimon]

E195 related. Are there any plans to repain them into the purple livery ?


cs

[Whispering Giant]

Next E195 due to go to CWL in September. No there are NO plans to paint the E195's purple.

[AirGuru]

What is the downtime due to ?? Crewing hours ? Or another route that's due to come on-line ??

[AirGuru]

On a similar note, according to the BE seat selector a few of the routes ex CWL seem well loaded given the relatively short lead time on seat sales. Hopefully this continues !

[gkmeech]

Flybe’s new base at Cardiff Airport opens officially today (1 June 2015) with passengers boarding inaugural flights to Edinburgh, Paris and Dublin as part of an extended 12 route network that also includes new routes to Cork, Faro, Glasgow, Munich, and Milan.

As part of its new two aircraft base, Europe’s largest regional airline will also improve frequency and capacity on existing routes to Belfast City, Dusseldorf, Jersey and on its 2015-16 Winter flights to Geneva. The first of two 118-seat Embraer 195 aircraft jets into Cardiff today to begin operations, while the second will follow on 1 September 2015. The 10- year agreement between Flybe and Cardiff Airport brings half a million extra seats for sale each year and has created 50 new jobs, including flight crew

[Wycombe]

1 ex-CWL to EDI, JER, then CDG and DUB, with a large period of downtime between the first 2 and last 2 return trips.

To update/pontificate my previous post above, today the CWL 195 is going to EDI, GLA, MXP and DUB, and there are less gaps, so maybe yesterday's was just because JER is obviously a short rotation compared to MXP and the schedule has to work around slot availability.

The a/c did look to be about 1hr delayed departing to CDG yesterday (despite over 3 hrs sat at CWL beforehand), with this delay also affecting the following DUB rotation.

[Air Hop]

So what now for the 195 disposal plans?

[EK77WNCL]

I would also like to know about the Republic aircraft... I'm hoping they still have the first class, I would have thought that it would make sense for them to offer first class service from London City but I doubt they will

[Rivet Joint]

10 year deal with Cardiff airport? Are they mad? Seriously, has this management heard about something called research? It would have taken one minion no more than an hour alone with Google to work out these airports are not only dead losses but send your airline to the wall. Madness:ugh:

[bean]

Rivet joint
As usual, great to read your expert, well informed opinion. NOT:ugh:

[stab3.5up]

Did they mot get stung operating in NWI and forced to operate phantom flights to boost numbers

[ATNotts]

I would also like to know about the Republic aircraft... I'm hoping they still have the first class, I would have thought that it would make sense for them to offer first class service from London City but I doubt they will

Sorry, makes sense to offer first class on a domestic route?? Where in Europe do any domestic services offer first class?

Time for a reality check me thinks!

[Lord Spandex Masher]

Did they mot get stung operating in NWI and forced to operate phantom flights to boost numbers

I'm sure the actors they employed enjoy their little day trips?!

[EK77WNCL]

Obviously not full first class, just a more expensive economy, maybe with free drinks.

If you've got the big seats with more room + new routes from the heart of london, why not employ them usefully?

EDIT: Also, where would we be if people routinely looked around and thought "well, nobody else does this, we'll not bother"

[AdamThePassenger]

Is there any reason why BE serve Paris-Orly from Southampton when every other route to Paris they operate goes into Charles de Gaulle?

[JobsaGoodun]

Some time ago, BE operated SOUCDG in competition to AF on SOUORY. I think that a commercial agreement was reached for BE to operate the Paris route with an AF codeshare, around the same time as they signed a wider codeshare agreement on their UK to France routes but with ORY as the arrival point instead of CDG ex SOU.

[gavinhicks]

has the performance improved in terms of numbers at the lcy operation in recent months

[JetJamie]

Anyone know when the winter schedule is going to be out? Trying to book a Southampton to Belfast trip in November. I thought it was due right at the start of June?

[scr1]

Flybe flight grounded by bee on Southampton to Dublin journey - BBC News (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-33040634) :D:D

[adfly]

I can only assume the bee misinterpreted their name and thought it was FlyBee! ;)

[OltonPete]

JetJamie

Re the winter schedule - just showing off that they have plenty of cash in the bank!!!!

The only problem with that is that they have run the risk that all the city-break traffic and skiers have booked with other airlines and yes I do know the majority of flybe bookings are in last three months prior to departure but in the past at least they have put the ski routes on sale before the rest.

Has there been a change of tack with the 195's, as a sixth 195 has been returned to service today?

I can't see any mention of flying 6 195's this summer unless this all changed with the Cardiff arrangement but I understood the aircraft were due to be the 195's from Manchester and Birmingham and duly the first aircraft flew last week down from MAN to CWL (MAN - CDG now a 175) and the booking engine shows BHX-CDG changing to the 175 from September.

However G-FBEN sneaked into BHX yesterday from Exeter and has operated BHX- Milan tonight with the other 195 on BHX-CDG as usual.

Pete

[Flightrider]

G-FBEK and G-FBEL have been laid up for the longest of any of the 195s, and in Newquay - and I'm hearing that these aircraft may present significant "challenges" to return to service due to the deterioration in their condition during the storage. Any updates on whether this pair are expected to return?

[adfly]

I do hope Flybe can find a way to keep their E195's operating, presumably renegotiated lease terms could help this to happen although we of course do not know the full details. With the economy improving and passenger numbers growing having a few larger aircraft to increase capacity on the peak routes and allow for some longer routes to be flown (i.e. UK-Spain is one of the busiest country pairings in the world for air traffic, and there are still quite a few niches that could be explored via W patterns or flights to smaller Spanish airports).

Wiki states (I know I know...) that Flybe currently have 10 in the fleet, and I would think that 8-10 aircraft would probably be all Flybe would need to cover the areas I have mentioned above. They of course also have a decent amount of commonality with the E175 fleet which helps reduce the additional costs of having a small number of a different aircraft type in the fleet.

[Mr A Tis]

Well there are plenty of unserved niched routes out of Manchester that are possible for Flybe, Seville, Bordeaux, Lyon & Bremen(vacated by RYR) to name a few. Much better than going head to head with Lufthansa on Dusseldorf

[gkmeech]

As of today G-FBEF, G, H, I, J, and N are in service

[OltonPete]

Whispering Giant

K showing on libhomeradar as the last flight back in January 2014.

BHX-CDG

195 showing restored to the route for winter leaving the 175 for just for 7 weeks over September and October.

Manchester seems to be the same and I assume just the 195 transferring from Southampton and Exeter after the sun routes end.

Pete

[Deano777]

G-FBEK hasn't been in service at Exeter this year yet, it's been FBEJ and FBEF mainly, with I think FBEH operating this week.

I hope that clears up the confusion.

[lfc84]

Winter schedule is available

[cornishsimon]

According to the flybe facebook page it's only a partial release.


cs

[eye2eye5]

Highlights identified so far are:

MAN - AMS increase to 6 per day
LPL - BHD increase to 5 per day
LPL - IOM increase to 4 per day

LPL - AMS remains at 3 per day, so that's one heck of an increase in capacity from North West to AMS on a daily basis!

[BHX5DME]

AMS - 6 daily
DUS 5 daily

From Winter schedule

[gavinhicks]

how is the exeter-lcy route performing has it improved in recent months

[Wycombe]

Well, the timetable update released today shows the return of a 3rd flight (late pm) in the W15/16 schedule, if that is any indication?

Edit: I was wrong on that. What they've done from the start of the Winter Schedule is to move the evening rotation to an earlier time, now
departing LCY at around 1730 instead of around 2000

[davidjohnson6]

Announcement on Wed 10 June
Anyone care to guess what surprises might be in store, bearing in mind the interim statement on 07 April 2015 ?

[Set 1013]

Flybe made a loss before tax of £(35.6)m (2013/14: £8.1m profit). However, this loss before tax is affected by non-cash revaluations on our USD loans that are intended to be hedges against the value of each aircraft, whose value is denominated in dollars. If these movements are excluded, we made an adjusted loss of £(25.4)m (2013/14: loss of £(0.1)m). Cost of surplus aircraft were £(26.0)m this year against £(1.7)m the previous year and this year included significant costs of the Finland discontinued operations of £(12.0)m and £(4.0)m provision for EU261 claims on delayed and cancelled flights prior to 1st April 2014. Conversely, 2013/14 had one-off restructuring costs of £(10.7)m, offset by one-off £10.5m profit from the sale of our Gatwick slots. For illustrative purposes, therefore the UK profit net of these factors would have been £16.6m (2013/14 £1.7m).

As expected, we will find out how the market reacts in 20 minutes.

[ATNotts]

Flybe made a loss before tax of £(35.6)m (2013/14: £8.1m profit). However, this loss before tax is affected by non-cash revaluations on our USD loans that are intended to be hedges against the value of each aircraft, whose value is denominated in dollars. If these movements are excluded, we made an adjusted loss of £(25.4)m (2013/14: loss of £(0.1)m). Cost of surplus aircraft were £(26.0)m this year against £(1.7)m the previous year and this year included significant costs of the Finland discontinued operations of £(12.0)m and £(4.0)m provision for EU261 claims on delayed and cancelled flights prior to 1st April 2014. Conversely, 2013/14 had one-off restructuring costs of £(10.7)m, offset by one-off £10.5m profit from the sale of our Gatwick slots. For illustrative purposes, therefore the UK profit net of these factors would have been £16.6m (2013/14 £1.7m).

As expected, we will find out how the market reacts in 20 minutes.

So, in laymans terms, excluding the costs involved in restructuring and correcting the errors of the previous regime, the company made a handsome profit?

If so, then that looks as though, despite all the naysayers, some wise decisions have been made, that are putting the business on a firm footing for the future. Or is that too simplistic?

[kcockayne]

I do, very much, hope that you are correct !

[Set 1013]

That how I see it too ATNotts,

If we get shot of the 195's this year, we should (fingers crossed and subject to no further exceptional charges) start making money next year!

Famous last words:rolleyes:rolleyes:

[ATNotts]

That how I see it too ATNotts,

If we get shot of the 195's this year, we should (fingers crossed and subject to no further exceptional charges) start making money next year!

Famous last words:rolleyes:rolleyes:

If the 195s go this year, then what is in store for the CWL base, the main purpose of which appears to be to find something for the 195s to do, that is more profitable than having them sat around gathering dust?

[NewquayJacob]

Switch Cardiff to an E175 base?

[LGS6753]

Market mildly positive. At 11.00 shares up 1.5% compared to all share market +0.3%.

[Devonair]

Another codeshare agreement for BE commencing in July subject to the regulators
http://www.traveldailymedia.com/222848/emirates-signs-codeshare-deal-with-flybe/

[Cloud1]

I see a E175 was doing the CWL-CDG today. Is it a W pattern or was the CWL E195 subbed?

Also Q400 doing the SOU-PMI at about 2hr.30 which isn't too bad.

[OltonPete]

Cloud1

The 195 last flew this morning in Cardiff and per FR24 has remained there with a 175 sent empty from BHX after it completed MXP-BHX sector.

The BHX aircraft was replaced by a Cello 146.

So from transporting the likes of royalty, footballers and corporates to the more humble pax on the BHX-BHD route. At least no cancellations at BHX and just CWL-GLA return so 10/10 for effort. It has been a while since they have used Cello at BHX.

175

I have noticed one 175 has not flown since 26 May, is this routine maintenance or is it getting the purple treatment?

Pete

[Jerbourg]

According to BBC Guernsey's Facebook page, Flybe are reviewing all of it's services to/from GCI. I personally fear the worst & think we are about to see the end of BHX, EXT, NWI & SOU services, if this is the case it will be a sad day for the travelling public of Guernsey.

[Grizzle]

I hear the Flight Ops management complete are also to be reviewed....
DFO, Crew Manager an his henchmen too?

[kcockayne]

Jerbourg

Only an unrepresentative survey of their EGBB-'JB-'JJ (EGBB-@-'JJ) & vv. service, which I've used quite a bit lately. The loads to & from Guernsey have been poor (in the region of 10 to 25) on every flight that I've made.
This doesn't augur well; but I've not flown on that many flights, or any of the other routes, so I have no definitive answer.
Let's keep our fingers crossed !

PS The Jersey loads on these flights have been much better.

[adfly]

Don't see how they can successfully compete with Blue Islands on SOU-GCI with the single flight they are operating this summer, the competition now offer 4 flights per weekday (3 at weekends) on their ATR72. Don't think many people saw this happening when Blue Islands originally upgraded the route from J32's to the ATR!

[kcockayne]

You are right there, adfly !

[Set 1013]

The Flybe app is now available.

[lfc84]

iOS version of the app went live in the app store yesterday. Windows and Android versions are currently in development.

[BAladdy]

Does anyone know if the leased DH4's that are joining the fleet are configured with the same number of seats as those currently in the fleet?

Also how are BE progressing with the painting of the DH4 fleet?. Are there still just the 16 aircraft in the new scheme?

G-ECOH
G-FLBC/D/E
G-JECE/F/G/Y
G-JEDM/P/R/T/U/V/W
G-PRPL

Finally does anyone know if BE intend to paint any of the E-Jets in the purple livery?

[MKY661]

Also how are BE progressing with the painting of the DH4 fleet?. Are there still just the 16 aircraft in the new scheme?

G-ECOH
G-FLBC/D/E
G-JECE/F/G/Y
G-JEDM/P/R/T/U/V/W
G-PRPL

Finally does anyone know if BE intend to paint any of the E-Jets in the purple livery?

The only ones that have been painted are ones that have joined the fleet, returned to service after paint into white, and ones transferred from Brussels Airlines. G-PRPA is done as well.

There are no plans to paint the E195, not sure about the E175.

[El Bunto]

I see that G-PRPA entered revenue service over the weekend, now that it's officially on the register ( as of 27th ).

[adfly]

Anyone have any idea when the rest of the winter schedule is due to be released?

[cornishsimon]

Social media team keep saying by month end


cs

[adfly]

It is hardly confidence inspiring for customers if they keep being this vague about releasing their winter schedules, especially when basically every other major airline already has them out already. They did the same thing with the schedule for this summer.

[BHD2BFS]

Has it been announced yet which routes flybe will be flying on behalf of SAS?

How will the aircraft be crewed? By currents flybe staff working out of base for a few weeks at a time or will they recruit new crew to be based at a current SAS base?

[looseheadprop]

Must be sleeping Adfly! Flybe's winter schedule announced and went on sale on 10th June.

[looseheadprop]

Ah, sorry, Adfly....you're right. Haven't seen the rest of the winter yet either? Guess they might make a decision soon - anyone know?

[commit aviation]

Regarding SAS flying:

I cannot imagine it will be UK based crews because the aircraft acquired for the SAS contract are ATR72's not Dash8's

[irishlad06]

will be local crews - a good few already hired from out there already and in training.

[ETOPS]

I see Cello are subbing on the IOM today with a '146. What are Flybe short of?

[GAXLN]

Sorry, couldn't resist - Just a guess but could it be aircraft? Most airlines will need to charter in from time to time as it would never be sensible to always have enough spare aircraft should anything go wrong. The important thing is to avoid any EU261 payouts if this can be avoided.

[pottwiddler]

Sorry, couldn't resist - Just a guess but could it be aircraft? Most airlines will need to charter in from time to time as it would never be sensible to always have enough spare aircraft should anything go wrong. The important thing is to avoid any EU261 payouts if this can be avoided.

But the cost of keeping those aircraft airworthy might deride that idea...better to pay out rather than have a few 'back-ups'.

[ETOPS]

Just a guess but could it be aircraft?

I'm not aware that any of the fleet are down at the mo - they even have two extra Q400s just in service from Republic.

Maybe another "resource" in short supply?

[VC10man]

My wife and a friend were flying EMA to JER on July 7th. The plane was sitting on the tarmac for the 90 minutes it was late taking off. The reason was that someone had been sick on the previous flight and they couldn't find the cleaners to clear it up.

It was delayed 90 minutes on the return flight as well. Not too good for a hours flight.

Bring back the baby!

[Set 1013]

VC10man,

I'm really sorry your wife and friend experienced a small delay on this Flybe flight. I'm sure you can appreciate it's out of Flybe's control if one of our passengers is sick on the inbound flight though. I can promise you the crew will have tried their best to get the situation addressed ASAP once they were on the ground. I'm sure you would of been even more miffed if your wife had boarded the plane to find the sick still there next to her!
I suspect there was an issue/ delay with the contractor who have all the correct equipment to deal with the offending vomit. Who knows they may have been busy dealing with other puddles of sick on other aircraft/airlines if there was a lot of turbulence that day.

I hope that helps you understand the situation.

[OltonPete]

ETOPS

Are you sure aout Cello yesterday as the 46 seat aircraft was on a footie charter, the 82 seater on the ground BHX and the 734 operating for TUI.

However there were problems with the jets yesterday with one 175 on maintenance (JF), another did one flight only and then sat for 24 hours to mid afternoon today (JC) and the spare 195 was also at BHX not flying. I didn't ever think I would say this but the Q400 has been covering the 175 flights yesterday and today at BHX.

Whether all the jet down-time was tech, crewing or planned maintenance I don't know.

Pete

[Tonyq]

There was no Cello in IOM yesterday, although something did go awry with the second BHX-IOM-LPL-IOM cycle as there was an aircraft swap and the last leg didn't complete until after 10.00pm. Still they got everyone home and there were aircraft here for the early departures today.

[salute]

I'm really sorry your wife and friend experienced a small delay on this Flybe flight. I'm sure you can appreciate it's out of Flybe's control if one of our passengers is sick on the inbound flight though. I can promise you the crew will have tried their best to get the situation addressed ASAP once they were on the ground. I'm sure you would of been even more miffed if your wife had boarded the plane to find the sick still there next to her!
I suspect there was an issue/ delay with the contractor who have all the correct equipment to deal with the offending vomit. Who knows they may have been busy dealing with other puddles of sick on other aircraft/airlines if there was a lot of turbulence that day.

I hope that helps you understand the situation. Actually it wasn't a short delay, And should have really taken twenty minutes to resolve,

And assuming that flight had a few more rotations that day with tight turnarounds then a few hundred people could have been affected.

[mad_bob]

Firstly, would you get in a taxi if there was vomit on the seat? Secondly have you ever tried to get cleaners at EMA to attend an aircraft when they are not contracted to? The crew do not have the means or equipment to clean vomit correctly it has to be seen to by cleaners, there is no choice.

[Chesty Morgan]

Flybe don't contract cleaners at EMA?

Seems like a failing on Flybe's part if that's the case.

[mad_bob]

They do as far as I am aware but if cleaners are requested off schedule then you are at their bidding and they will turn up as and when they feel like it or are able.

[Toon Boy]

Is this about the airline or about grumpy passengers?
Get out more!
What about the visits to Waterworld... any info??

[AdamThePassenger]

I am sure said issues will be resolved in time :) The trouble with the very system in which we live is that labour is demanded at times that are not convenient to the person who is providing said labour. Age-old capitalims-vs.communism debate :P

[OltonPete]

I see another trying morning.

I could not help noticing the cancellations (ten noted network wide) and delays at BHX this morning and it is only just midday.

15% of the Dash fleet not flying this morning and in peak summer months this seems a little bit poor. Also 3 jets noted as on the ground and a 4th only flew for the first time at 11.52 - two 195's and two 175's (one 175 just got airborne on its first flight of the day).

I assume tech issues rather than crewing or weather related?

Although not a 100% reliable FR24 had 7 Q400's having not flown up until midday - one since 27 July (EXT), another 29 July (BHX), another 24 July (GCI), the others since early yesterday (MAN, BHD, SOU & BHX). I make that 15% of the fleet.

The two 195's not flying seem to show one at Manchester since 25/7 and BHX since 29/07 and the 175 at BHX since last night.

Therefore at one point today 17% of the fleet was not operating although with only ten cancellations and a few delays I presume not all 10 grounded aircraft were due to be flying.

NB. This is not counting two Q400's that started to fly late morning and the one in the paint shop.

I noticed that the cancellations were not so bad yesterday but I assume no desire for aircraft substitutions? (some have been available at times).

Update: One 195 and the other 175 which was not in service have been used from BHX this afternoon but still one more cancellation showing this evening.

Pete

[MARKEYD]

Regarding the winter schedule is that all the flights released now ?

Just wondering about the ski routes they tend to operate to places like Lyon , Grenoble , Salzburg etc from some of the regional airports at the weekend seems rather late in the day now to put them on sale if they at all intend to ?

[Owlery]

I was one of the victims of yesterday's cancellations and delays. Manchester flights were chaotic, and we were told due to staffing issues and tech problems, although this was far from clear. Stood in queues for several hours at IOM airport. Trying again today. Lots of unhappy passengers being forced to miss onward flights.

[Owlery]

Looks like further delays today.

[Cloud1]

Certainly in the IOM it was just an unfortunate afternoon. Only one cancellation which was the MAN and a few delays in the evening sectors.

You only need an hour delay for it to mess up onward connection plans and with the exception of the STN the delays in the evening were mostly an hour give or take a few minutes. Delays therefore were not excessive, just a few at the same time and on routes where delays can be more inconvenient than others.

BHX was a similar story in that apart from the morning EDI was cancelled. It went a bit messy in the afternoon....I suspect some link to the late morning EGC which had an hour delay didn't help and caused a knock on delay to other sectors. On a Saturday at most airports if you start of with a small delay it just grows and grows.

MAN had more cancellations so was worst hit during the day. Two IOM sectors, a DUS and some others were cancelled.

The majority of the day in SOU and BHD was trouble free with the odd delay here and there which I suspect was caused by aircraft changes to assist with the wider network problems.

EXT and BOH was trouble free all day and CWL only had one minor delay.

[OltonPete]

Yes it has all started gain this morning at BHX but no cancellations as yet. Three hour inbound delay on EDI, two hour outbound but it seems that they might have taken the Inverness aircraft which now has a 150 minute delay, Biarittz just under one hour and Dusseldorf two hours.

Out of the seven Dash 8's not flying in the morning one did do a few sectors in the afternoon the other six did not move. However another couple seem to have taken the afternoon off. Two of the seven are flying today but joined by another one leaving six not flying.

I am sure flybe did a great job in terrible circumstances yesterday but it is not an isolated issue, as Thursday also saw cancellations and delays and the "best" one was the four hour delay on BHX - Newquay which was eventually operated by an aircraft returning from a training detail which started around the same time the flight was due out. Cancelling training details must be expensive compared to paying compensation to the passengers.

Again I am sure a sound commercial decision was made but it just looks bad although I doubt the passengers were aware. Also it was unfortunate it was the same plane that was on the training detail and it matched the delay. Departed BHX 11.33 arrived back at around four and out to Newquay at 16.30 - Credit FR24 and flybe website.

Are management happy with this happening so often or is the deal with Bombardier that good?

Pete

[Leg]

But the idiot in charge says the Trash 8 is the future of flybe... :=

Funny how these things work, sack lots of loyal employees, fly
a noisy tech ridden fleet, but providing you cut costs the city
loves you... :D

Apparently there are no issues with the fleet, Bombardier has
fixed all the tech issues.... :ugh:

[Mr A Tis]

There are obviously some fleet issues of some sort. Flybe have leased in a VLM FK50 for what I understand is two months. It was in Manchester today.

[El Bunto]

Flybe have leased in a VLM FK50 for what I understand is two months. It was in Manchester today.

Aha that would explain OO-VLF at Ronaldsway today!

[ETOPS]

Yes - take my earlier post, scrub out "Cello" and insert "VLM" :rolleyes:

[Owlery]

Looks like Flybe are in trouble again today. I'm currently stuck at Manchester again hoping that the delay won't be more than the advertised 1.5 hours.

[Owlery]

Certainly in the IOM it was just an unfortunate afternoon. Only one cancellation which was the MAN and a few delays in the evening sectors.

You only need an hour delay for it to mess up onward connection plans and with the exception of the STN the delays in the evening were mostly an hour give or take a few minutes. Delays therefore were not excessive, just a few at the same time and on routes where delays can be more inconvenient than others.

BHX was a similar story in that apart from the morning EDI was cancelled. It went a bit messy in the afternoon....I suspect some link to the late morning EGC which had an hour delay didn't help and caused a knock on delay to other sectors. On a Saturday at most airports if you start of with a small delay it just grows and grows.

MAN had more cancellations so was worst hit during the day. Two IOM sectors, a DUS and some others were cancelled.

The majority of the day in SOU and BHD was trouble free with the odd delay here and there which I suspect was caused by aircraft changes to assist with the wider network problems.

EXT and BOH was trouble free all day and CWL only had one minor delay.
I was given the later MAN flight as an option but the delay was extended to 3 hours with no guarantee so I elected to fly to Birmingham the next morning (delayed 1 hour). This on top of miserable experiences of various friends and relatives is making me think of fairly drastic action, including cancelling all my upcoming bookings.

[Ian Brooks]

Owlery
Looks as if trouble follows you, remind me never to fly on the same flights as you


Ian

[Owlery]

Owlery
Looks as if trouble follows you, remind me never to fly on the same flights as you


Ian
Or anyone I know! I think the problems are focused on the IOM as the Easyjet flight from Gatwick was also cancelled this morning. I flew Flybe twice a week through the winter and only had a couple of serious problems. I guess that they struggle when flights are fairly full. Anyway, the flight left just over 2 hours late: the crew weren't sure what caused the delay.

[Tonyq]

The F-50 seat maps are currently loaded for specific IOM-MAN-IOM and IOM-STN-IOM rotations through to 30/9/2015, with the aircraft night-stopping in IOM.

It also does MAN-AMS-MAN after the early morning IOM-MAN.

After 30/9/2015 everything reverts to Q400 maps. As far as IOM is concerned, it looks like a repeat to the DAT ATR-72 arrangement from last year, albeit that covered LPL and BHX.

Represents a significant drop in capacity on STN especially, just when the EZY schedule to LGW develops the usual seasonal gaps.

[Owlery]

Flybe are all over the place again today with evening IOM-MAN and BHX flights badly delayed, amongst many others (Ireland and Scotland in particular).
Presumably staff will also be getting fed up with the current situation, not least the harassed ticketing staff at IOM Airport.
I've received an email from Flybe saying that the Manchester flight will be operated by VLM next week (confirming what Tonyq says above), so I hope that this is an effort to sort out the problem.


Otherwise I can see serious questions being asked by people with more influence than me.

[jijpc]

I note what TonyQ says about operations post 30/9/15, however interestingly I have a STN-IOM flight on 9th October and I have had an email this afternoon that informs me that my flight will be operated by VLM. Might it therefore be around a bit longer, perhaps until the end if the summer schedules?

I agree that it represents a drop in capacity however given my previous experience of the stansted service, and overhearing cabin crew, it would appear that loads are often quite small so in reality I don't think the reduced capacity will be an issue.

[Tonyq]

My earlier comments reflect the seat maps. My son has had an e-mail stating that his flights MAN-IOM-MAN either side of Xmas (!!) will be operated by VLM, so I suspect that someone at BE has set the parameters for e-mails notifications incorrectly!!:ugh:

[Owlery]

Owlery
Looks as if trouble follows you, remind me never to fly on the same flights as you


Ian
Thankfully I'm not flying this evening but Flybe's schedule looks a total mess with I think all flights delayed significantly. MAN to Belfast appears to be 4 hours late. So it's not just me! Anyone know what's going on? This seems unprecedented chaos bearing in mind the problems in recent weeks. The crew this morning had no idea what was causing the problems. Others have received the VLM email about various flights.

[GAZMO]

MAN to BHD this evening is being diverted to BFS, so probably the flight tomorrow morning for this aircraft will be delayed as crew have to fly it down from BFS to BHD in the morning
Appears to be a regular occurrence on BHD MAN flights....delays

[EI-BUD]

Gazmo,


I think it is going back to MAN from BFS...


EI-BUD

[GAZMO]

Thanks EI BUD you are correct, arriving at 23.30 at BFS and should depart just before midnight

[Owlery]

Severe delays reported this morning again for various flights - many at Southampton, I hear.


A VLM van has arrived on the IOM after a journey from Belgium and staff are staying at the hotel where Flybe staff (used to?) overnight. Presumably they are delivering equipment and setting up the airport operation.


The picture seems to be clearing a little. It's only conjecture based on Flybe's evasiveness and my observations, but I guess that a few Flybe aircraft are presently grounded whilst waiting to have their VLM livery applied - hence the delays. It looks to me like VLM will take over Flybe's British flights and Flybe will focus on international (European) operations.

[Ian Brooks]

Owlery
Can you expand on what you mean by VLM taking over Flybe`s
British operation, do you mean ex IoM

Ian

[Owlery]

I'm only guessing, as information about the root cause of the crisis is being held back, but with the disruption being so widespread it looks to me like it's more than just the IOM routes.

[Tonyq]

Sorry Owlery, but I think that you are drifting into the realms of fantasy there!

It appears that BE have some short term, peak season shortfall in resources,(probably both aircraft and staff) so have outsourced one aircraft's worth of work to a third party, who specialises in this type of activity, as part of their business model.

Perfectly normal activity. Ryanair, easyJet and BA all do it regularly

Surely, if the sort of fundamental shift in the operational model that you suggest was in the offing, then it would be subject to some sort of Stock Exchange announcement or update.

[BOHEuropean]

The VLM is being leased by Flybe, simple.

No Flybe aircraft are being painted in VLM livery. What an odd thing to say?

[Owlery]

Why is it odd? I said it was a guess so obviously I could be wide of the mark. But judging by the chaos, Flybe seem to be short of aircraft. Also Flybe are unwilling to explain what the main problem is, leaving the reasons open to speculation and rumour (this is a rumour network, remember). And why do VLM have to bring a van across if they are merely leasing a plane to Flybe?

Peak season shortfall in resources could partially explain it but the disruption is too severe for that to be the main reason (unless major incompetence is in effect). I don't see other airlines having such persistent and serious delays and yet it's the same season for them.

[OltonPete]

Now into the 6th straight day of delays at BHX, a slight change of problem, as three jets have not operated this morning albeit one is the spare 195.

Two 175's out, one since mid-afternoon yesterday's Berlin and another that last flew last night. Both covered by Q400's (Stuttgart, Edinburgh & Jersey) but the subsequent Q400 schedule is up the spout.

Delays out to Glasgow (Glasgow aircraft), Inverness (BHX aircraft), Deauville (BHX aircraft), second Jersey and Newquay. Not helped by the late arrival of the Isle of Man aircraft as well. delays between 60 and 150 minutes.

Is there seems to be a reluctance (cost) to use the Cello aircraft that has been on the ground BHX for the last few days?

Pete

[compton3bravo]

Or could it be that Cello have not been paid yet for their recent flights for Flybe and are reluctant to operate for them until payment is forthcoming?

[Ian Brooks]

I would guess at spares and maintenance crew.

ian

[Occams Razor]

I note what TonyQ says about operations post 30/9/15, however interestingly I have a STN-IOM flight on 9th October and I have had an email this afternoon that informs me that my flight will be operated by VLM. Might it therefore be around a bit longer, perhaps until the end if the summer schedules?

I had a similar email last week for a MAN-IOM flight in early September, followed by another email today saying the first was sent in error and that the flights would be operated by Flybe after all.

What is going on?

[Tonyq]

What I said in post #142 above. Someone at BE, seems to have set the parameters for advising the change to VLM, for specific flights, incorrectly and they are now rescinding the incorrect notifications.

[TartinTon]

You've got proof of that potentially libellous statement I assume Compton?

[TartinTon]

Owlery...rarely have I read such garbage on a thread (and I've been on the Jet2 thread!). VLM are covering a fixed line of flying for a defined period of time. End of.

[NickBarnes]

Good post Tartinton:D

[kcockayne]

Compton is speculating & not stating. Therefor, not libelling - I think.

[compton3bravo]

Just pure speculation everybody, this is, after all, a rumour network.

[El Bunto]

BMR E145 G-RJXG has been doing the BEE79_ runs between Birmingham and Glasgow this afternoon & evening.

Not doing terribly well at it either, didn't take long to rack-up 70 minutes of delays.

[Owlery]

Owlery...rarely have I read such garbage on a thread (and I've been on the Jet2 thread!). VLM are covering a fixed line of flying for a defined period of time. End of.
That's your guess. Also garbage it seems! Flybe emailed this evening and contradict what you say. VLM are not operating the flights. The VLM van must be here for different reasons. At least I tempered my remarks by emphasising that they were guesswork but your guess is presented as fact although unsupported with any evidence.

[El Bunto]

VLM are not operating the flightsEh?

OO-VLF - Aircraft info and flight history - Flightradar24 (http://www.flightradar24.com/data/airplanes/oo-vlf/)

Flight
BE810
BE1617
BE1616
BE1615
BE815
BE1278
BE1277
BE810
BE1617
BE1616
BE1615
BE1614
BE815
BE1278
BE1277
BE810
BE1617
BE1616
BE1615
BE1614
BE815
BE1274
BE1273
BE1032
BE7620
BE810

[ATNotts]

I guess that owlery is discussing a different Flybe, operating in some sort of parallel universe.

This may be a rumour network, but rumours with some basis in fact are often preferable to trying to produce best selling works of fiction, or, worse, peddling one's own agenda, whatever that may be.

[Janet Spongthrush]

flybe seem to be using Danish Air Transport ATR-72 OY-LHC to plug some gaps out of Edinburgh, active for the last 3 days according to FR24.

[TartinTon]

Owlery...I don't post guesses only facts. It's a fact that VLM are covering a line of flying for Flybe. Not sure how much clearer I can be for you?

[JAR]

EC-KUL today

[SWBKCB]

Owlery - talk about making bricks with straw! :eek: How many years in a row is this that Flybe have leased in mid-summer? UK network seems to be still intact :suspect:

Best laugh since Onxycrowle got banned... :ok:

[NickBarnes]

Owlery - talk about making bricks with straw! :eek: How many years in a row is this that Flybe have leased in mid-summer? UK network seems to be still intact :suspect:

Best laugh since Onxycrowle got banned... :ok:

I'm not sure Owlery quite understands the aviation industry, but nevermind probably best we move on as I'm sure we don't want to flybe thread to be closed again.

[Owlery]

OK, I was fooled by believing the email stating that VLM are not going to be operating Flybe flights from Manchester (the way it was worded was that VLM were not going to be involved at all, but maybe it was supposed to be only relevant to specific flights). I can see that people on here know better than Flybe's customer services.


I was merely motivated by alarm at the chaos of Flybe's schedule, the lack of explanation given and the apparent acceptance of this as normal, whilst I flew with Flybe twice a week through the winter and only had two serious delays.


You can put my guesswork right without being quite so conceited and contemptuous though, folks!

[canberra97]

Owlery

I THINK EVERYONE IS UNDER THE SAME OPINION EXCEPT YOURSELF.

What you stated is quite unbelievable and ridiculous to say the least but at least we can move on now seeing that everyone has put you right!

[El Bunto]

Oh I see G-PRPB came into service on the 4th. Hello.

[Cloud1]

I am a little concerned about the -PRP aircraft. The overhead lockers up front are too small for hand baggage carried and the crew told me on a recent flight they cannot sell duty free as there is insufficient space for the duty free carts. Whereas on the current fleet there is storage in both front and rear galleys this is not the case on the Republic.

As the aircraft fleet are mix and match between domestic and international not selling duty free may be a problem?

[Owlery]

Owlery

I THINK EVERYONE IS UNDER THE SAME OPINION EXCEPT YOURSELF.

What you stated is quite unbelievable and ridiculous to say the least but at least we can move on now seeing that everyone has put you right!
Hmm. Well I'll be attempting another Flybe flight tomorrow to Manchester so let's hope you're right and the schedule has just suffered a little normal wobble here and there, and it's not at all chaotic.

[PlymouthPixie]

I am a little concerned about the -PRP aircraft. The overhead lockers up front are too small for hand baggage carried and the crew told me on a recent flight they cannot sell duty free as there is insufficient space for the duty free carts. Whereas on the current fleet there is storage in both front and rear galleys this is not the case on the Republic.

As the aircraft fleet are mix and match between domestic and international not selling duty free may be a problem?

I have worked with the latest batch of -PRP* aircraft and I was of the understanding that they have a reduced Max TOW. They're also not fitted with rear airstairs which is a bit of a hindrance.

Do we know whether the E195's will see a return for the 2016 summer season?

[bean]

Plymouth Pixie
you are wrong about the take off weights
G-JEDP one of the older Q400s is declared as 28998kg
G-PRPL ex Republic is declared as 29257kg. You will almost never see the aircraft operating at max tow anyway

If Flybe can get rid of them the 195s won't be back next year

[Wycombe]

Seeing as the CWL operation appears to have been predicated upon finding a use for a couple of the 195's, does that simply mean it will become a Q400 operation if the 195's can be disposed of?

[PlymouthPixie]

@bean - thanks for clarification on the Q400's.

[caaardiff]

Seeing as the CWL operation appears to have been predicated upon finding a use for a couple of the 195's, does that simply mean it will become a Q400 operation if the 195's can be disposed of?

There's a mixture of routes from CWL, some of which the Q400 couldn't do. (FAO & MXP)
As far as I'm aware some of the routes from CWL are doing very well (In terms of pax figures, not yield!).
There's been such a fuss made about getting rid of the 195's, it would be interesting to see what the agreement is with the WG/CWL, if it's route specific or anything regarding aircraft/seats.
Depending on how economical it would be the best fit would be a mix of Q400 and 175s. I'm sure there's more routes that could come out of CWL.

[Wycombe]

There's a mixture of routes from CWL, some of which the Q400 couldn't do. (FAO & MXP)

I would question that assertion, as only yesterday a Q400 operated to MXP from MAN and all Summer they have been flying to MXP, VRN and PMI from SOU (also ALC, a couple of times at least).

[Cloud1]

I could have sworn I read online that Flybe were launching daily LCY-AMS flights in the winter - did I dream it as I have not seen it mentioned on here

[Set 1013]

Cloud 1,

No your not dreaming this. I also read an article stating the same, however I have seen nothing from Flybe or any other news article. Let's wait for the press announcement.

[davidjohnson6]

Flybe's London City - Amsterdam route was launched in November 2014

If you want a photo of the cake...
http://www.anna.aero/2014/10/29/flybe-touches-down-at-london-city-with-seven-routes/

[Set 1013]

Davidjohnson6,

We know the route started last November, I have even operated this route once which is currently just a weekend service. Cloud1 and I believe we have seen articles which refers to a daily service. I believe the article I saw referred to a possible 3 times a day service.

[Wycombe]

I've seen the article about a daily service aswell, just can't remember where right now :-(

Just checked the online timetable and weekday flights are not showing there yet.

[stab3.5up]

Are they not basing an 8th a/c in BHD over the winter?

[El Bunto]

BMR E145 arrived Ronaldsway early this morning on a BEE callsign, looks like it will be doing some flying for the Puple Line today.

G-RJXE.

[Tonyq]

Yes, and a Jota Aviation swept up the IOM-STN pax from two cancelled/heavily delayed rotations very late last evening.

Whole episode would have cost someone a lot of money with charter fees, EU compensation, late opening at IOM.

It does seem that BE are in a general state of disarray in IOM, (and possibly beyond) just at the moment.

[Resurgam]

Generally speaking:

Servicable company aircraft sitting on the ground + Wet-leases flying company routes = Shortage of crew.

[El Bunto]

G-RJXE opened the day with BEE810 to Manchester.

F50 OO-VLF poddled off to Rotterdam-Hague yesterday afternoon. Lease over perhaps in favour of BMR?

[dantheflyboy]

I think you are right! They can't bring FD online quick enough to replace the leavers to BA JET2 and alike.

[BAladdy]

OO-VLF showing as operating todays BE1614 IOM-STN

[Mr A Tis]

OO-VLF been operating AMS-MAN-IOM-STN-IOM-MAN today,I think its with Flybe for at least 2 months.

[Cloud1]

Seems that the Loganair / BMI regional / Flybe match will be put in to action in the winter as the NCL-STN is handed over to Loganair for a daily E145 rotation

http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/flybe-newcastle-stansted-flights-continue-9877884

[bigjim99]

Stobart Air are planning to operate two ATRs in Flybe colours based at IOM from Oct 2015.

[cornishsimon]

well that's an interesting development !


will that be in addition to the existing BE operated by RE routes ex SEN or are we likely to see an early IOM-SEN route to allow ex SEN departures ?




cs

[EI-BUD]

Re Flybe by Stobart from IOM that is interesting in the sense that what was Aer Arann may well return to routes it previously did like IOM LPL!!!

Is Stobart Air getting this business a reflect of a lack of Flybe's own aircraft or are these routes marginal and being hived off to Stobart or is Stobart operating a sub contract arrangement for Flybe??

EI-BUD

[simoncorbett]

It would seem Flybe were 'borrowing' 3 (at least) aircraft yesterday as they were using F50/E145 & Cello BAE146

[manx crab]

Stobart Air are planning to operate two ATRs in Flybe colours based at IOM from Oct 2015. Only a guess but perhaps an ATR42 to do STN and an ATR72 to do MAN.

That would leave LPL and BHX for the Dash8

[AdamThePassenger]

Stobart Air are planning to operate two ATRs in Flybe colours based at IOM from Oct 2015.

This would make sense seeing as ATR 72-500 EI-REL (https://www.flickr.com/photos/elevationair/18343771123/) has been kept in BE colours despite not having operated any BE services for many months now (ATR 72-500 EI-REM (https://www.flickr.com/photos/126698983@N03/18807676431/) is doing the SEN services and has been for some time (http://www.flightradar24.com/data/airplanes/ei-rem/)). It is used as the EIR "hot spare" (http://www.flightradar24.com/data/airplanes/ei-rel/) for when there are no EIR or white livered aircraft available. ATR 42 EI-EHH (https://www.flickr.com/photos/91484693@N02/18843179946) and ATR 72-200 EI-REI (https://www.flickr.com/photos/38016434@N05/19218064299) are both in plain white after their short stints operating for CityJet so maybe one of these two will get BE colours? ATR 72-200 EI-REH (https://www.flickr.com/photos/nclimages/14352190162) is the only plane in the fleet to actually carry Stobart Air colours so I imagine they will want to keep it :P ATR 42 EI-CBK (https://www.flickr.com/photos/essay229/15566103030/) and all of the ATR 72-600s are in EIR colours so repainting one of these would make no sense.

Adam :)

[RHINO]

Anybody care to comment on the loads this Summer?

[virginblue]

Could this indicate a move of the STN route to SEN?

[BAladdy]

Does anyone know if the DH4's coming from Republic Airways are retaining there Republic 74 seat layout or are they being reconfigured into a 78 seat layout as per the rest of the BE DH4 fleet?

[OltonPete]

RHINO

Loads at BHX are wonderful and they have also stemmed the cancellations using Cello, Titan, Jota (CWL) as well as VLM (IOM) over the last few days.

The only problems at BHX are delays and getting the 175's up in the air (lack of crews?) although another Dash disgraced itself today but it arrived back safely.

As for some of the other new routes June was not great but early days. Rotations and the passenger figures from the CAA.

STN IOM......6541...43 pax...55% load factor (see why the F50 operates now)
STN-NCL......4046...39 pax...50%
STN-NQY.....2893...52 pax...66%

BHD-LCY.....10304...51 pax...66%
EXT-LCY......4315...42 pax....53%

Cardiff for June- Rotations and pax figures from the CAA

CDG......2027.....61....52% based on 118 seats 33 flights
DUS.......305.....38.....49% based on 78 seats
ORK.......341.....43.....36% based on 118 seats
DUB......7608....47.....55% based on 72 seats WX/STK and 118 BE
MXP.......346....38.....33% based on 118 seats
FAO......1992....83.....70% based on 118 seats
BHD......3739....63.....80% based on 78 seats
EDI.......7584....48.....??% based on 72 seats WX/STK & it says Loganair?
GLA......2006....63.....53% based on 118 seats
JER.......1633....62.....53% based on 118 seats

Pete

[BAladdy]

Flybe have announced that they will launch flights from EDI-LPL and SOU-DUS starting 25th October

Flybe to fly Edinburgh-Liverpool and Southampton-Dusseldorf - Business Traveller (http://www.businesstraveller.com/news/101975/flybe-to-fly-edinburgh-liverpool-and-southampto)

[cornishsimon]

Perhaps were about to see the start of the release of the additional winter routes which flybe have been suggesting will be launched for some time now.

Fingers crossed things look a bit clearer for winter soon.


cs

[cornishsimon]

Being reported locally that flybe are to close the EXT bases call centre by feb16. Also new southwest routes but missed that part of the radio report


cs

[Cloud1]

Being reported locally that flybe are to close the EXT bases call centre by feb16. Also new southwest routes but missed that part of the radio report


cs

It is ready run by a third party company called Sitel - they do it for other companies too. Where is likely to relocate to?

[insuindi]

All sorts of changes appear to be in the system now, for example
BHX-HAJ and MAN-HAJ doubledaily during the week for the best part of winter. BHX-TXL up to 3 Saturday flights.

[SWBKCB]

Flybe Exeter jobs 'could go' as call centre closes - BBC News (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-34056841)

link to the call centre story - new EXT route is the return of GLA

[GrahamK]

Exeter-Glasgow also returns

[cornishsimon]

Very sad to see these jobs going at EXT

Also sad that NQY doesn't see any increases for winter with just daily LGW and MAN.

There was hope that NQY-BHX would see a winter outing and that MAN would be increased from 7 weekly.


cs

[VickersVicount]

EDI-LPL - will be pleasantly surprised if that lasts. What is it with BE? pin the tail on the route map?

[RHINO]

Thanks Oltonpete, should n't have a problem booking a seat then:ok:

[harbour cotter]

Why shouldn't LPL-EDI be a success? The only problem is that it is not at least double daily. Both Cities are large enough to sustain the route, there is plenty of Business and leisure traffic in both directions. There is also no competition from any other airline (or rail for that matter), It appears that sound positive market reseach has been done.

[ATNotts]

Why shouldn't LPL-EDI be a success? The only problem is that it is not at least double daily. Both Cities are large enough to sustain the route, there is plenty of Business and leisure traffic in both directions. There is also no competition from any other airline (or rail for that matter), It appears that sound positive market reseach has been done.

Agree, double daily from the outset would be better, from a business perspective, but given the perenial road congestion I can see this route working, rather more likely than some of the other iffy routes FlyBe has embarked on in the past 12 months.

[lfc84]

What are they using for LPL-EDI Dash-8 or Lognair Saab ?

That will make a big difference

[eye2eye5]

Dash 8 equipment is scheduled for the route.

[gkmeech]

Have Flybe said anything about the SOU-LBA route for the winter? Nothing showing on the timetable.

[BAladdy]

BE have dropped LBA-SOU was removed from the timetable a couple of weeks ago.

T3 will continue to operate flights from SOU to LBA. They will increase the frequency on the route from 14th September with weekday flights operating up to 4 x daily

[Jerbourg]

SOU-GCI is not being dropped as was expected, instead it is going up to 2 a day, fingers crossed they can get the pax figures up again & get back to being the dominant carrier on the route.

[Ayline]

I wish Flybe well on the Guernsey-Southampton route. Nice to see them increasing services. Times look reasonably good with good opportunities to connect from Guernsey to other destinations.

[shamrock7seal]

The only way they will succeed is if they can improve their on time performance record which is appalling. This is why Blue Islands has been able to kill them completely on it.

[air2000dub]

Wasnt a success last time they tried it from Glasgow and Edinburgh with double daily.

[El Bunto]

Just noticed this morning that Q400 G-FLBB now has ADS-B active.

The only one in the FlyBE fleet as yet, I think.

[AdamThePassenger]

Looking at seat plans on BE's website, the IOM flights will switch over to what looks like an ATR 72-200 on Sunday October 25th.

Adam :)

[cumbrianboy]

It won't be a 72-200 ...

[AdamThePassenger]

All ATR 72-600s are for EIR, and SEN needs an ATR 72. Stobart only have 2 ATR 72-500s so surely one of the 3 (1x SEN, 2x IOM) will HAVE to be an ATR 72-200.

Adam

[Expressflight]

Yes, one ATR72-500 is currently based at SEN ..............

[AdamThePassenger]

Are you saying all SEN flights will end and the 2 ATR75s will go to IOM, or have I misunderstood that. Apologies if so.

[Expressflight]

No, I'm not saying the one AT75 based at SEN (there are not two based there any more following the closure of the MST route in the Spring) will go to IOM but some observers of the SEN scene feel a little uneasy at the moment.

[AdamThePassenger]

Ah yes, sorry. I was under the impression that 2 ATR 72s were going to the Isle of Man. If this is correct, Flybe will need 3 unless the SEN flights are terminated. EI-REL and EI-REM will likely go to the Isle of Man with SEN getting a -200 or being cancelled all together I imagine.

Adam :)

[globetrotter79]

Would it not be logical to put the two 72-500s (already in full Flybe colours) into IOM starting October and stick one of the 42s into SEN, at least for the winter season?

[Haven't a clue]

An article on Manx Radio's website presumably from a FlyBe/Stobart Air press release says the 2 72 seat ATRs will be "FlyBe branded". That suggests FlyBe livery as apart from crew uniform, magazine and menu cards there's not much else "branded" on a FlyBe aircraft. See here:

Flybe signs 'wetlease' deal with Stobart Air | Isle of Man Business | News | Manx Radio (http://147-5433bc3297b05.radiocms.com/news/isle-of-man-business/flybe-confirms-franchise-deal-with-stobart-air/)

[bigjim99]

I'm under the impression that the 2x72-500s are heading to IOM. Not sure whats going to SEN or if it will continue.

[BAladdy]

Would it not be logical to put the two 72-500s (already in full Flybe colours) into IOM starting October and stick one of the 42s into SEN, at least for the winter season?

I think that Stobart will operate 3 AT7R72. With EI-REI likely to join EI-REL and EI-REM. EI-REI has been in a all white livery since returning from it's WX lease

[BAladdy]

Looks like BE are dropping there SEN-FMO service. Flights no longer bookable after 01NOV

[bean]

It is not Flybe dropping the service. It is Stobart under franchise

[SealinkBF]

So, not sure why Flybe have two departures to London City within 20 minutes.

But this was last Monday's 1810 service

https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/617/21127346624_e19cd643c0.jpg

[flying officer kite]

Being the end if the business day the 2 flights tend to be busy coming into Belfast, much like the morning flight out is normally full. One of the aircraft is Exeter based, which would otherwise have nothing to do for a couple of hours at LCY, so it operates to Belfast

[AdamThePassenger]

Stobart ATR 72-200 EI-REH has been on the ground at DUB now for well over a week. Repaint into BE colours for SEN ops perhaps?

Adam :)

[Dontgothere]

Quite possibly as EI-REI has had an Aer Lingus Regional sticker applied to it

[AdamThePassenger]

Oh right, seems likely then :) Any pictures of the newly be-stickered EI-REI, and will EI-EHH have a similar sticker applied?

EDIT: Found one: https://www.flickr.com/photos/48415713@N04/20709184574

Adam :)

[El Bunto]

Very quiet at Belfast City this morning, FlyBE managed to dispatch a couple of early departures but all other movements now cancelled for the morning due to fog. Visibility < 200 metres at 08:30.

G-PRPC should be emerging from paint-shop in Shannon soon.

[PlymouthPixie]

Not a good day for Flybe at Exeter yesterday. Edinburgh went tech on arrival which resulted in a severe delay to the Jersey/Guernsey. All Manchester inbounds delayed including a divert to Newquay and morning London City 30mins late.

Charles de Gaulle and Amsterdam also delayed. The later severely in the evening.

[Cloud1]

Not a good day for Flybe at Exeter yesterday. Edinburgh went tech on arrival which resulted in a severe delay to the Jersey/Guernsey. All Manchester inbounds delayed including a divert to Newquay and morning London City 30mins late.

Charles de Gaulle and Amsterdam also delayed. The later severely in the evening.

Just so I know, are we to expect these updates every time there is a delay? If so I think I will scrap my account with Pprune. I am not sure what is trying to be achieved??

[kcockayne]

Yes, it's just facts; & not rumors !

[PlymouthPixie]

Just so I know, are we to expect these updates every time there is a delay? If so I think I will scrap my account with Pprune. I am not sure what is trying to be achieved??

But I thought Flybe delays were of interest to you?

Certainly in the IOM it was just an unfortunate afternoon. Only one cancellation which was the MAN and a few delays in the evening sectors.

You only need an hour delay for it to mess up onward connection plans and with the exception of the STN the delays in the evening were mostly an hour give or take a few minutes. Delays therefore were not excessive, just a few at the same time and on routes where delays can be more inconvenient than others.

BHX was a similar story in that apart from the morning EDI was cancelled. It went a bit messy in the afternoon....I suspect some link to the late morning EGC which had an hour delay didn't help and caused a knock on delay to other sectors. On a Saturday at most airports if you start of with a small delay it just grows and grows.

MAN had more cancellations so was worst hit during the day. Two IOM sectors, a DUS and some others were cancelled.

The majority of the day in SOU and BHD was trouble free with the odd delay here and there which I suspect was caused by aircraft changes to assist with the wider network problems.

EXT and BOH was trouble free all day and CWL only had one minor delay.