On 5 March 2020, the UK’s largest regional airline collapsed. Flybe was hidden in debt. A rescue consortium led by Virgin Atlantic, after pumping £ 100m and seeing it disappear, concluded that there was no hope of turning the airline around and pulling the plug.
But on April 13, 2022, the familiar Dash 8 Q400 aircraft will take off in a purple livery from Birmingham Airport, destination Belfast City – with 22 more routes to follow.
These are the key questions and answers.
What happened to Flybe Mark 1?
The airline began life in 1979 as a Jersey European. For two years in 2000, it was briefly known as British European. In 2002, when online booking became popular and names were constructed for airlines to give them a memorable URL, it became known as Flybe. His HQ was at Exeter Airport.
For several years, the airline flourished – culminating in an initial public offering in December 2010, when Flybe was briefly estimated at £ 250m. But in less than a decade, the airline has collapsed. On March 5, 2020 at 2:00 a.m., passengers with flights booked that day on Flybe were told, “Please do not travel to the airport as your flight will not work.”
More than 2,000 employees lost their jobs, all future departures of the Exeter-based airline were canceled – as were the travel plans of hundreds of thousands of passengers with forward bookings.
Wasn’t Flybe Mark 1 killed by Covid-19?
Flybe was the first crashed carrier to attribute his death, at least in part, to the virus. At the time of the failure, then-chief executive Mark Anderson said funding challenges were “linked to the outbreak of coronavirus, which has led to a significant impact on demand in recent days”.
What happened next?
In October 2020, as the coronavirus pandemic paralyzed the world, another partner in the failed rescue consortium, Cyrus Capital, bought the brand from the recipient. After months of rumors but little current news, we know Flybe will be back.
Where is Flybe based?
His HQ is at Birmingham Airport, also a hub for Flybe. There will be a second base at Belfast City Airport, which will actually have the largest route network.
According to 2019 data from analysts Cirium, they were Flybe’s second and third busiest airports in 2019, with Manchester marginally ahead.
Which plane will it use?
Canadian-built Dash 8 Q400 propeller aircraft, which was the main ground type of the original Flybe operated. Some of the planes are believed to have previously flown from the original Flybe. They carry 78 passengers in an entire economy configuration, with two-by-two seats.
Where does Flybe fly?
The airline will be launched and expanded in several segments, with a two-stage launch in April.
The first flight departs from Birmingham at 8.55am on April 13, to Belfast City. A link from Belfast City to Glasgow will start the next day.
Five more tracks are to be launched on April 28th:
- Belfast City-Leeds Bradford
- Belfast City-London Heathrow
- Leeds Bradford-London Heathrow
- Amsterdam-Birmingham
- Amsterdam-East Midlands
A significant point about two of these routes, Leeds Bradford-Heathrow and Amsterdam-East Midlands, is that Flybe has no aircraft or crew based at any of these airports. To serve them, the carrier will fly a so-called W-pattern. For example, it will fly Birmingham-Amsterdam-East Midlands-Amsterdam-Birmingham.
What happens in the summer?
There is a substantial expansion, starting on 28 May with a daily Amsterdam-Belfast City and, the next day, Heathrow-Amsterdam. This twice daily link will compete with British Airways and KLM.
Belfast City is a focus in the next installments, with multiple daily flights to Edinburgh (June 23), East Midlands and Manchester (both July 7).
Then the focus shifts to the holiday routes in France, connecting Birmingham with Avignon and Brest on 9 July, and Southampton with Avignon (23 July) and Toulon Hyères (24 July).
While summer is not always a great time for UK inland roads, on 28 July Flybe will launch Belfast City-Southampton and connections from its Birmingham base to Edinburgh and Glasgow on 28 July.
The last day of expansion is August 25, when Belfast City gets three more routes: Aberdeen, Inverness and Newcastle.
Is there no existing competition?
Yes. Some observers say there is little room for what is effectively a new, small regional player – with all the viable routes already taken up by airlines such as Loganair, Eastern Airways, Aer Lingus, British Airways and easyJet.
Flybe even chooses a fight with the Dutch airline, KLM, on the main route Heathrow-Amsterdam. “These are battles they can never win,” said one aviation insider.
Airline timetable analyst Sean Moulton says that all but one of Flybe’s scheduled dose routes from Belfast City are currently served by the airport, or its competitor Belfast International. “Only Belfast City in the East Midlands is completely unserved,” he said.
Ahead of the tracks being uncovered, Ralph Anker, editor of The Anker Report and an expert on route networking, said: “It’s not clear where it will find a niche in the UK market.”
How tempting are Flybe’s rates?
Very low at the moment – typically £ 30 one-way on most routes, or £ 50 of much higher cost London Heathrow. The French lines are much more expensive: Southampton-Avignon on 30 July is £ 157.
What does the base price buy me?
For the base price, known as the Flybe Lite, a 7 kg cabin bag that can measure no more than 45 x 36 x 20 cm – about 32 liters. This is the same as EasyJet free bag size, but the latter has no weight limit.
By comparison, the free bag on Ryanair is 40 x 25 x 20 (20 liters, 10 kg), with Wizz Air slightly larger at 40 x 20 x 20 (24 liters, 10 kg).
Flybe was the original airline to start paying to check bags. It warns: “Cabin luggage will be subject to conformity checks, if your cabin bag does not conform to the allowed dimensions, then it will be transferred to the timber at the appropriate cost depending on the size and weight of the bag.”
But it adds: “You can bring a bag from the airport, buy duty free, in addition to a cabin bag.”
Another option: the “Valet Bag” service allows you to carry a 56 x 45 x 25cm bag (maximum weight 12kg) on the plane. It will be stored, but “once you have reached your destination, it will be available to you at the end of the flight steps, allowing you to collect your luggage and quickly make it through the airport to make the most of your time”. The cost is £ 20.
What if I have more stuff?
The Q400 aircraft cabin is slim, so the same cabin luggage limit applies regardless of how much you pay.
Flybe was the first airline to introduce shipping costs (in 2006, when the cost was £ 2.50). Prior to his death, it was widely criticized for pursuing a hard-line cabin luggage policy.
Prices for checked luggage look reasonable – especially for longer distances.
To check out a 15kg bag, the Flybe Smart option currently costs £ 18 more – and also allows you to choose a reserved seat instead of being assigned one.
Flybe Plus, currently £ 40, allows a 23kg checked bag, choice of each seat (including extra legroom) and free route changes – subject to any fare difference.
Any other business?
Even on domestic UK flights, anyone aged 16 or over needs an official ID such as a passport (or an expired one up to two years old), a driver’s license, a bus pass, a student card or a firearms certificate.
“The name on the identification document must match the passenger name exactly.” Strangely, Flybe asks for middle names – though you can happily book without using one.
The minimum age to travel without an adult is 16.
What chance are you giving to the new airline?
Competition is already intense in the UK – with some evidence that the coronavirus pandemic has caused a significant and lasting decline in the volume of domestic business air travel.
Flybe will encounter a number of obstacles, including:
- The rising cost of aviation fuel since its resurrection plan has been announced
- Potential passenger lack of confidence following the collapse of 2020 Flybe Mark 1
- Preference for jet aircraft over smaller, slower propeller aircraft on routes such as Belfast City-Amsterdam and Birmingham-Edinburgh
In addition to other careers, Flybe also faced stiff competition from rail (particularly London-Leeds and from Birmingham to Edinburgh and Glasgow), road and ferry.
To its possible advantage is the government’s decision to stimulate flights over terrestrial transport with its plan to halve the air passenger duty for domestic flights next year.
Nevertheless, it’s hard to see how the Flybe 2.0 will offer a loss-per-passenger of well over £ 10, as experienced in 2019, and a profit reversal when pretty much every other parameter is less favorable.
Cynics suggest the new venture is just a balanced vehicle for leveraging Flybe’s legacy slot portfolio at Heathrow and Amsterdam. But the airline says its mission is simple to provide “frequent, convenient and high-value flights that connect our customers with the people and experiences that really matter.”
Flybe says: “We are committed to the highest safety standards, passionate about excellent customer service and will always go the extra mile to make your trip the best it can be.”
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