Flybe

[jfy1999]

Flybe have announced that they will lay on extra flights from CWL to Bordeaux and Toulouse for fans travelling to Euro 2016, and I wonder if they'll do the same thing at BHX. It's certainly an opportunity to get Toulouse back, and you'd think other routes like Paris and Lyon could easily see capacity increases for the tournament.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Flybe have announced that they will lay on extra flights from CWL to Bordeaux and Toulouse for fans travelling to Euro 2016, and I wonder if they'll do the same thing at BHX. It's certainly an opportunity to get Toulouse back, and you'd think other routes like Paris and Lyon could easily see capacity increases for the tournament.

The flights to Toulouse and Bordeaux from Cardiff are for Wales's matches.

Wales's other game is against England at Lens in northern France - nearest airport being Lille.

England's two other games are at St Etienne (nearest airport the small St Etienne Airport) and at Marseille.

 

[nwoody2001]

New Route - BHX - Nantes

I'm not familiar with the Flybe route network, but just announced on Twitter,

NEW ROUTE: Birmingham - Nantes (Seasonal), 5x weekly operating Mo, We, Fr, Sa, Su!

All bookable on flybe.com

 

[nwoody2001]

Seems I was a little premature with my original post, why Flybe only announced 1 of the 3 on twitter and not the other 2!!!

Flybe will now offer 30 routes from BHX, is this a new record for them???? the additional 11x weekly flights over summer will help fight off Ryanair to stay as the biggest airline at BHX

Official Press Release from BHX Below:

- x - x - x -

Flybe Announces Three More Summer Routes From Birmingham
21st January 2016

Leading Regional Airline Boosts 2016 Summer Programme with Three Brand New Routes to Nantes, Rennes–Saint-Jacques and Limoges

Flybe has announced a further expansion of its 2016 Summer programme from Birmingham Airport with the news of three brand new routes to regional France, namely Nantes, Rennes-Saint-Jacques and Limoges. Seats are available for booking now at http://www.flybe.com from £32.99 including taxes and charges.

Flights will operate five times a week to Nantes – the historic port city on the Loire River in western France. Nantes is ideally situated as a gateway to the beaches of the Atlantic coast and highlights of the Loire Valley, including Muscadet wine, cycling and river tourism.

Rennes, the capital city of Brittany, boasts a 2,000 year history. Its architectural mix ranges from the medieval, with cobbled streets and plenty of hidden corners to explore, to 18th century. It is an ideal base from which to discover Brittany, including the Forest of Brocéliande – which legend claims is the home of Merlin, King Arthur and the Lady of the Lake. Flights to Rennes-Saint-Jacques will operate four times a week.

Limoges is a town of art and history in west-central France. The Limousin Region is a popular destination for fishing, horse-riding, golf and mountain biking, owing to its beautiful and diverse scenery. Flights to Limoges will operate twice a week.

These new summer routes provide an additional boost to Flybe’s existing high frequency schedule from Birmingham. With lots of value-priced fares on a wide choice of flights for time-saving travel, the airline remains committed to making it as convenient and easy as possible for its customers, whether flying for business or leisure.

William Pearson, Aviation Director, from Birmingham Airport, commenting on the route announcements said: “We are delighted that Flybe will be offering flights to these currently unserved cities in France giving passengers more choice to these business and leisure destinations. Flybe serves 30 destinations from Birmingham offering great service and fantastic value. Flybe is Birmingham Airport’s largest airline and we welcome its expanding route network.”


SCHEDULE DETAILS OF NEW SUMMER ROUTES FROM BIRMINGHAM (BHX);

TO NANTES (NTE)

Effective for travel 21st May – 29th October,2016

Operates Mon/Wed/Fri/Sat/Sun

Mon/Wed/Fri

Morning flight from Birmingham and Nantes.

Sat/Sun

Suitably scheduled late morning from Birmingham and returning flight mid-afternoon.

TO RENNES-SAINT-JACQUES (RNS)

Effective for travel 21st May – 25th September, 2016

Operates Tues/Thurs/Sat/Sun

Tues/Thurs

Early flight from Birmingham returning late morning from Rennes.

Sat

An Early evening flight from Birmingham and return flight leaving late evening.

Sun

Handy morning flight from Birmingham with reverse flight leaving Rennes at lunchtime.

TO LIMOGES (LIG)

Effective for travel 21st May – 29th October

Operates Wed and Sat

Conveniently timed midday from Birmingham and early afternoon from Limoges.

Full route details at http://www.flybe.com

Flybe’s 2016 Summer schedule from Birmingham now offers a total of 30 routes offering passengers a choice of up to 413 flights a week to an extensive range of attractive destinations.

 

[jfy1999]

Those are good regional destinations with great potential. I had always hoped for Nantes and Rennes in the knowledge that they were already served from MAN and SOU, and hopefully they will do well especially with the Euros coming up. Limoges will face competition from Ryanair at EMA, so will be one to keep an eye on.

 

[Ray Finkle]

A very nice little bonus and healthy schedules too :good:

 

[nwoody2001]

indeed. looks like it was actually planned for the benefit of attracting passengers rather than just utilizing under-utilized units....

a quick fag-packet calcs suggest these 3 new routes alone in a summer season could add up to 41,000 seats to BHXs 2016 tally! Not earthshattering but every little helps. similar in capacity to a 2x weekly 737 year round service (i.e Blue Air to Budapest)

 

[Daza]

Great news about these three new routes. Have Nantes and Rennes been served by a scheduled service from BHX before? Did FR operate Limoges or was it Poitiers?
Daza

 

[thunderchild]

While it's always good to have new routes announced to me it looks as though Flybe are throwing the dart at a map of France again and seeing where it lands. At least these routes should be more appealing than last years offering of Deauville - which I assume has been quietly dropped?

I know they have struggled with Toulouse in the past but if their focus is on France could the likes of Marseille or Montpellier work?

 

[Brum X]

Great news about these x3 new routes from Flybe and as we have said, these flights will add to our 2016 passenger stats and that is only good news.

I might need to change my prediction again and again and again. :dunno:

 

[Ray Finkle]

As well as the new routes there are one or two frequency increases.

Bordeaux goes 5x weekly (I think it was originally 3 or 4?)

Bergerac is now 6x weekly, daily except Wed

Biarritz is 3x weekly (previously 2x weekly?)

La Rochelle goes 3x weekly

Those are from the July timetable so frequencies may be less either side of the peak period.

 

[nwoody2001]

Certainly a good day for BHX from Flybe... that said we've been here before. However, at 30 routes and 413 flights a week in summer must be a record!!??

Looking back at the BHX press releases, Summer 2014, Flybe operated 32 routes and 375 flights a week, though that said flybe schedules have a tendency of changing all about all the time and hard to follow!

 

[Daza]

Flybe seem to be slightly changing their offering from Birmingham. Rather than introducing lots of new, untried routes FLR, OSL etc. come to mind. They are adding French regional routes where their brand is well known and they are maybe aiming at holiday makers, many of whom won't be going to Turkey, Tunisia and Egypt.
They are also increasing daily offerings to key business routes STR, MXP, TXL, AMS, DUS etc. increased frequencies are more attractive to business travelers. They seem to me to have a more coherent plan for expansion now at least at BHX. :drinks:

 

[Ray Finkle]

Flybe doing what they do best? :good:

I agree with Thunderchild, somewhere such as Marseille or even Toulon could have great potential.

 

[Aviador]

Flybe BE326 BHX - ABZ - G-JECR is diverting into MAN having declared an emergency.

 

[Ray Finkle]

Birmingham Airport lands new Luxembourg service

Birmingham Airport is set to become the first UK airport outside of London to operate a direct service to Luxembourg.

The new year-round Flybe service to Luxembourg City starting on 5 September will open up a host of opportunities for businesses trading in Central Europe.

Luxembourg City is conveniently located for onward travel to France, Germany and Belgium with all three countries under half an hour away by road.

Vincent Hodder, Flybe chief revenue officer, said: “We are delighted to be adding Luxembourg to our 2016 summer schedule from Birmingham.


“Until now, direct flights to Luxembourg were only possible via London. We are opening up yet another key business and tourist destination to travellers outside of the M25 corridor and look forward to welcoming all our new customers on board in September.”

The service could also provide a huge boost to the region’s manufacturers, in particular those in the automotive and aerospace sectors, which are two of the top UK exports to the country.

http://www.bqlive.co.uk/2016/03/02/birm ... g-service/

 

[User001]

Sorry to be that guy, but article isn't quite right now as MAN pips BHX to the post on first outside London by 4 days.

 

[Ray Finkle]

Anyway, it starts on the 5th which is when the 14th based aircraft arrives to operate Rotterdam which starts on the same day.

 

[User001]

Roll your eyes all you like, but, I can be sure there would have been no time lost to correct on the MAN thread had it been reversed, and we would have had to take the flack too.

 

[Brum X]

Anyway a great new route for BHX, and great to see they are starting to branch out to completley new destinations in europe rather than the norm.

Good to see, i hope it is a success. :smile: