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Flybe (UK)

Flybe
IATA
BE
ICAO
BEE
Callsign
JERSEY
Founded 1979 (as Jersey European Airways)
Hubs Southampton Airport
Birmingham Airport
Manchester Airport
Belfast City Airport
Focus cities Edinburgh Airport
Glasgow Airport
London Gatwick Airport
Exeter Airport
Jersey Airport
Isle of Man Airport
Guernsey Airport
Newcastle Airport
Cardiff Airport
Norwich Airport
Frequent flyer program Rewards4all
Fleet size 82
Destinations 46
Parent company Jersey European Airways Ltd
Headquarters Exeter, United Kingdom
Key people Jim French (CEO)
Jack Walker (Founder)
Andrew Knuckey (CFO)
Mike Rutter (CCO)
Andrew Strong (COO)
Website: http://www.flybe.com/

Flybe is a British airline based at Exeter International Airport, England. It is the largest independent regional airline in Europe operating over 150 routes to 55 airports.[1] The airline's largest base is now Southampton Airport and it has further bases across the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands and Isle of Man.

The company holds a United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority Type A Operating Licence permitting it to carry passengers, cargo and mail on aircraft with 20 or more seats.[2]

Contents

History

Flybe started operations on 1 November 1979 as Jersey European Airways (JEA), after taking over the operations of Intra Airways. Jersey European Airways was the brainchild of John Habin, a resident of Jersey and the majority investor in JEA. Having sold Aviation Beauport and other business interests, Habin established a few key routes from Jersey to the UK. Jersey European Airways was taken over in 1983 by Jack Walker's Walker Steel Group who were already the parent company of Blackpool based charter airline Spacegrand Aviation. The two airlines were run separately, with partially shared management, until their amalgamation within the Walker Aviation Group in 1985, under the Jersey European name. The airline rebranded as British European in June 2000 and later shortened this title to Flybe on 18 July 2002 and aimed to reposition itself as a full service, low-fare airline. On 3 November 2006 it was announced that agreement in principle had been reached for Flybe to acquire BA Connect, with the exception of London City Airport services. The acquisition was completed in March 2007. The airline is owned by Rosedale Aviation Holdings (69%), Flybe staff (16%) and British Airways (15%) as a consequence of the acquisition of BA Connect. It has 3,000 employees at January 2008.[3]

Acquisition of BA Connect

On 5 March 2007 Flybe completed the acquisition of the former regional airline business of British Airways. The purchase was first announced on 3 November 2006. British Airways will ensure that Flybe has sufficient cash funding (£96m) in order to achieve its growth targets and the transition out of the BA Connect fleet. In return British Airways has acquired a 15% stake in the airline. The acquisition (which did not include BA Connect's London City Airport routes, which have been taken over by BA CityFlyer) has significantly increased Flybe's route network in both the UK and continental Europe making Flybe Europe's largest regional airline.[4]

Loganair franchise agreement

On 14 January 2008 it was announced that Flybe had signed a franchise agreement with Scottish airline Loganair, to commence on 26 October 2008 following the termination of Loganair's franchise agreement with British Airways on 25 October 2008.

The agreement will see Loganair aircraft flying in Flybe colours on 55 routes from Scotland.[5]

Destinations

Main article: Flybe destinations

Flybe operates short haul services to destinations throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and continental Europe.

Flybe franchise and codeshare destinations

Fleet

As of June 2008, the Flybe fleet includes the following aircraft:[6]

Aircraft In Service Stored On Order Notes
ATR 72 2 0 0 Leased from Aer Arann for summer 2008
BAe 146-200 0 3 0
BAe 146-300 8 0 0
Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 38 0 19
Embraer 145 22 0 0
Embraer E-195 AR 12 0 2
Total 82 3 21

As of June 2008 the average age of the Flybe fleet was 5.4 years.[7]

Aircraft orders

Aircraft sales

In an announcement of Flybe's year end results, the airline stated that it has successfully sold all Embraer 145 aircraft inherited from BA Connect, and has made significant progress to sell the small number of BAe 146s remaining in the Flybe fleet. This is with the aim to operate a two aircraft type fleet (comprising the Dash 8 Q400 and Embraer 195) by 2009. [10]

Codeshares

Flybe also has various interline partnerships with a range of other airlines including American Airlines, , BMI British Midland, Emirates Airline, Korean Air, Northwest, Singapore Airlines, TAP Portugal, US Airways and Virgin Atlantic[12].

Sponsorship

References

  1. ^ Flybe Company Information
  2. ^ Operating Licence
  3. ^ "Directory: World Airlines", Flight International, 2007-04-03, p. 83. 
  4. ^ announced that they have completed the acquisition of BA Connect
  5. ^ Flybe signs historic franchise deal with Loganair. Flybe Press Office. Retrieved on 2008-01-14.
  6. ^ UK CAA Aircraft Register
  7. ^ Flybe Fleet Age
  8. ^ Air International, July 2005
  9. ^ Air Transport World 9 May 2007
  10. ^ Year end results announcement. Flybe press office. Retrieved on 2007-12-01.
  11. ^ [1] 1 August 2007
  12. ^ [2]

External links



This article based on this article: Flybeexternal Link from the free encyclopedia Wikipediaexternal Link and work with the GNU Free Documentation License. In Wikipedia is this list of the authorsexternal Link.