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Flybe (pronounced ), styled as flybe, is a British airline based at
Birmingham Airport Birmingham Airport , formerly ''Birmingham International Airport'', is an international airport located east-southeast of Birmingham city centre, west-northwest of Coventry slightly north of Bickenhill village, in the Metropolitan Borou ...
, England.


History

The airline traces its history back to Jersey European Airways, which was set up in 1979 following the merger of
Intra Airways Intra Airways Limited was a private, British independentindependent from government-owned corporations airline formed in 1969. Initially, it was a charter airline operating passenger and cargo charters from the Channel Islands to the United King ...
and Express Air Services. The firm was renamed British European in 2000 and Flybe in 2002. In November 2006, Flybe purchased
BA Connect BA Connect was a wholly-owned subsidiary airline of British Airways. It was headquartered in Didsbury, Manchester, England, it operated a network of domestic and European services from a number of airports in the United Kingdom on behalf of Bri ...
, thereby becoming the largest regional airline in Europe. On 5 March 2020, Flybe filed for
administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal ** Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an administrative officer, admini ...
and ceased all operations.


Relaunch

On 19 October 2020, reports emerged that Lucien Farrell, in charge of former shareholder Cyrus Capital's European office, had formed a new company, Thyme Opco, to purchase the Flybe brand and relaunch the airline, subject to regulatory approvals. The new owner planned to "start small and restore regional connectivity in the UK" from 2021. On 1 December 2020, Thyme Opco applied for a UK operating licence. Thyme Opco also registered a 21-year-old de Havilland Canada Dash 8 Q400, which was expected to be the first aircraft for the 'new Flybe', though this particular aircraft was subsequently transferred to
PAL Airlines PAL Airlines (formerly Provincial Airlines) is a Canadian regional airline with headquarters at St. John's International Airport in St John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.Civil Aviation Authority granted the new airline an operating licence as well as Type A and B route licences, enabling the carrier to operate both charter and scheduled services. The new company also obtained 86 slots at Heathrow for the summer 2021 season, to be used for flights to Edinburgh and Aberdeen, though the airline has since transferred them to use on other European routes. The 'original' Flybe company was renamed FBE Realisations 2021 Limited, with Thyme Opco Limited becoming Flybe Limited. On 3 June 2021, the operating licence for the original company was revoked following an unsuccessful appeal to the Transport Secretary. Despite initial beliefs that its legacy slots at UK airports had returned to the slot coordinator, this was shown not to be the case by coordinator ACL. The new operating company also leased Heathrow slots from
British Airways British Airways (BA) is the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in London, England, near its main hub at Heathrow Airport. The airline is the second largest UK-based carrier, based on fleet size and passengers ...
for routes to Edinburgh and Aberdeen. On 26 October 2021, the new Flybe Limited confirmed that it had appointed David Pflieger as its Chief Executive. This closely followed the appearance of an ex-Flybe Q400, registered as G-JECX, which had been painted with a new purple-and-white livery. In November 2021, the airline announced that it had picked
Birmingham Airport Birmingham Airport , formerly ''Birmingham International Airport'', is an international airport located east-southeast of Birmingham city centre, west-northwest of Coventry slightly north of Bickenhill village, in the Metropolitan Borou ...
as its new base, with operations scheduled to begin in early 2022 to "key regions across the UK and EU". On 16 March 2022, Flybe announced that
Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...
would be the airline's second operating base. The company slogan is ''Smile and go the extra mile'', although ''Let's flybe'' is used as a tagline. The first flight took place between Birmingham and Belfast on 13 April 2022. The company aims to operate up to 530 flights per week on 23 routes, using a fleet of up to 32 Q400s. Throughout its first months of operation, Flybe faced several operational issues, which it blamed on late aircraft deliveries. 12 weeks after its launch, the company cancelled 3 routes, and reduced frequencies on 5 others, however stated they would return to their original frequencies during the winter. Planned services from
Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...
to Belfast, as well as Inverness to both Belfast and Birmingham never commenced. In September, the airline announced new service to the
Isle of Man ) , anthem = "O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europe ...
from Belfast and London, however cancelled both services less than a month later, two days before the inaugural flights. The company was criticised for giving Isle of Man's airport less than 30 minutes notice of its intention to cancel service, and subsequently announcing similar routes from
Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...
on a near identical schedule, as despite stating the cancellation was due to aircraft shortages, the airline was required by Heathrow authorities to continue operating the route if it was to retain its highly valuable slots at the airport. In October, Flybe ceased flights between Leeds and London, largely due to low demand as a result of competition from rail networks, and confirmed that it would not be resuming services. In the same month, the airline suspended flights to
Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...
until February 2023, and further reduced frequencies again blaming late aircraft deliveries, despite having taken delivery of two additional aircraft which were reportedly unable to provide sufficient capacity.


Corporate affairs

The company's head office is on the second floor of Diamond House at
Birmingham Airport Birmingham Airport , formerly ''Birmingham International Airport'', is an international airport located east-southeast of Birmingham city centre, west-northwest of Coventry slightly north of Bickenhill village, in the Metropolitan Borou ...
, within the
Metropolitan Borough of Solihull The Metropolitan Borough of Solihull is a metropolitan borough in West Midlands county, England. It is named after its largest town, Solihull, from which Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council is based. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region ...
.


Parent company

Flybe Limited, founded in September 2020 as Thyme Opco, is a
private limited company A private limited company is any type of business entity in "private" ownership used in many jurisdictions, in contrast to a publicly listed company, with some differences from country to country. Examples include the '' LLC'' in the United St ...
which is owned by Thyme Investco Limited - the majority of whose shares are held by DLP Holdings SARL, an affiliate of American
hedge fund A hedge fund is a pooled investment fund that trades in relatively liquid assets and is able to make extensive use of more complex trading, portfolio-construction, and risk management techniques in an attempt to improve performance, such as s ...
Cyrus Capital Partners. This is the same company which was involved in the purchase of the original Flybe in 2019.


Fare structures

Flybe's Q400 airliners are outfitted with 78 all-economy seats and several different ticketing options are available: * "Flybe Lite" includes a single carry-on bag. * "Flybe Smart" adds up to of hold baggage and a reserved seat. * "Flybe Plus" includes priority boarding, a reserved seat, and either a valet bag or up to of hold baggage. All passengers receive a complimentary drink and snack on board, regardless of fare.


Destinations

Flybe sells tickets on 22 routes to 16 destinations:


Fleet

As of December 2022, the Flybe fleet consists of the following aircraft: Flybe is currently operating an initial fleet of 8 Q400s, expected to expand to 32 aircraft. Nordic Aviation Capital expects to lease 12 aircraft to Flybe, and Aergo Capital is to supply a further five.


References


External links

* Regional airline brands Airlines established in 2020 Airlines of the United Kingdom