Flybe

[IanFarquharson]

I understand Flybe's Full winter 2022/23 schedule should be released and on sale by early next week.

Until then, expect some changes.

Will LBA-LHR be still there ?

 

[lbaspotter]

Will LBA-LHR be still there ?

Good question, can neither confirm or deny!

So far 4x out of 7x daily LHR slot pairs have been allocated, 2x daily each to AMS & BHD with 3x more to be confirmed.

 

[flybe]

The final LHR-LBA service will operate on the 29th of October, from which point the LHR slots in question will be instead used for LHR-NQY.

 

[A400]

The final LHR-LBA service will operate on the 29th of October, from which point the LHR slots in question will be instead used for LHR-NQY.

Could be the chance for BA to come back if what your saying is true. Just looking at the other Flybe threads and seen some new NQY routes available to LHR and MAN. Shame we can’t have NQY back from LBA as I got the impression that under the “old” Flybe that the route did well.

 

[flybe]

Could be the chance for BA to come back if what your saying is true. Just looking at the other Flybe threads and seen some new NQY routes available to LHR and MAN. Shame we can’t have NQY back from LBA as I got the impression that under the “old” Flybe that the route did well.

I do have to wonder why neither LBA or BHX are destinations from NQY as I was always led to believe that they were relatively successful operations. Perhaps they just need to re-establish a presence "down south" before expanding.

 

[Starflyer]

Why would BA come back on LBA-LHR when they've tried it and it didn't work before?

 

[A400]

Why would BA come back on LBA-LHR when they've tried it and it didn't work before?

How do you know it didn’t work then? They originally suspended it due to covid and keep saying it’s suspended. Times change and if they can offer better flight times than they did before it can work ideally that suits times for connecting flights.

They managed to make it work for over 7 years so I’m not sure why you claim it didn’t work out.

 

[SierraHotel]

So presumably BE now only offering BHD from LBA?

 

[White Heather]

Makes you wonder how many pax they will get on point to point to LHR from Newquay when there's regularly been single figures from LBA with its much bigger catchment area.

 

[flybe]

Makes you wonder how many pax they will get on point to point to LHR from Newquay when there's regularly been single figures from LBA with its much bigger catchment area.

NQY definitely seems more like a summer-only destination to me.

 

[IanFarquharson]

So presumably BE now only offering BHD from LBA?

Yes LHR dropped, only 2 pax on one flight recently !

 

[Jerry]

Makes you wonder how many pax they will get on point to point to LHR from Newquay when there's regularly been single figures from LBA with its much bigger catchment area.

Cornwall is probably a better point to point route from London considering the distance on the train compared to Yorkshire.

 

[Severn]

Makes you wonder how many pax they will get on point to point to LHR from Newquay when there's regularly been single figures from LBA with its much bigger catchment area.

Difference is, Leeds has more alternatives to get to London whereas Newquay and the wider Cornwall area has a lot less, and more expensive options to get to London. Flybe can potentially make more money on a route where people don't have as many altrenatives. I have colleagues who live in Cornwall and will always prefer to fly and save the time rather than drive or train.
A quick summary of the options available:

	Time to Drive	Time to Train	Cost of Train	Number of Trains per hour
Leeds to London	3hr30 to 5hr	Between 2hr and 2hr30	£40-£60 booking a few days from now	2per hour, 32x departures per day
Newquay to London	4hr30 to 6hr30	Between 5hr15 and 6hr30	£70 booking a few days from now	7x departures per day (only 2x are direct)

 

[lbaspotter]

Come right from the start I think we all knew Flybe operating a point to point Leeds - London route wouldn't work on its own. The flight cancellations, tech aircraft and lack of advertising hasn't helped either.

If we are to get Heathrow back it needs connections/interlining, it needs BA!

 

[lbaspotter]

Flybe's Leeds - Belfast City drops to 2x daily during November, but good news it then re-increases back to 3x daily from December.

 

[White Heather]

Cornwall is probably a better point to point route from London considering the distance on the train compared to Yorkshire.

Yes but Cornwall only has a fraction of the Yorkshire population, which sort of equals things up a bit.

 

[White Heather]

Come right from the start I think we all knew Flybe operating a point to point Leeds - London route wouldn't work on its own. The flight cancellations, tech aircraft and lack of advertising hasn't helped either.

If we are to get Heathrow back it needs connections/interlining, it needs BA!

I think this decision was made some time ago to be honest. Almost 3 months ago, LBA said Flybe were about to embark on a significant advertising campaign, but I have seen nothing from them and the only advertising has been by LBA themselves with their on line adverts.
Seems like Flybe knew it was a dead duck and didn't waste their money.

 

[Jerry]

Yes but Cornwall only has a fraction of the Yorkshire population, which sort of equals things up a bit.

But a lot longer options too get there and it's one of the most popular holiday destinations in the UK.

 

[LBAYORKIE]

Come right from the start I think we all knew Flybe operating a point to point Leeds - London route wouldn't work on its own. The flight cancellations, tech aircraft and lack of advertising hasn't helped either.

If we are to get Heathrow back it needs connections/interlining, it needs BA!

Or Flybe with a code share.

 

[LBAYORKIE]

How do you know it didn’t work then? They originally suspended it due to covid and keep saying it’s suspended. Times change and if they can offer better flight times than they did before it can work ideally that suits times for connecting flights.

They managed to make it work for over 7 years so I’m not sure why you claim it didn’t work out.

I suspect it just about broke even most of the time. Even before Covid I was nervous as you could see BA were launching new (more lucrative) services from LHR so the LBA slots must have been in their sights even before Covid hit.

If Im right and BA only just scraped through when they had a full suite of connections at LHR then now is not a good time to re start LBA, better to wait until they have more connections available.

The total failure of Flybe on the route proves to me that sufficient point to point traffic just isnt there and Im sure BA will recognise this too. No point basing a BA aircraft at LBA simply to attract domestic travellers as the return clearly isnt there.

I think ultimately the lack of a relationship with an alliance partner has been the downfall of Flybe on this route. Theyve done themselves no favours at all with the delays and cancellations but the lack of code shares is the real issue. Maybe Flybe had been hoping to negotiate and agreement but pulled the route when they realised this wasnt going to happen- who knows?

Im sure if the airport put a financial incentive in place BA could be enticed back. If LBA think the route is viable then they dont have much to lose.