Flybe

[whoshotjimmi]

I am just looking into flights from Belfast to Leeds and it would appear that the service is 3 daily again TUE, WED, THU. Is this a permanent fixture, or will the route revert to 4 daily in summer?

 

[lbaspotter]

I am just looking into flights from Belfast to Leeds and it would appear that the service is 3 daily again TUE, WED, THU. Is this a permanent fixture, or will the route revert to 4 daily in summer?

Can confirm that the flybe's Leeds/Bradford - Belfast City route will revert to been operated 4x daily on all weekdays after the schedule changes from the winter 2013/14 season into the Summer 2014 schedule which is normally the last weekend in March.

The flight times have just been altered and it looks as though a 2nd Saturday flight is going to be introduced and all flights will be operated by Dash 8-Q400 aircraft.

New timetable
BE729 = Belfast 06:50 - Leeds 07:55 = MON, TUE, WED, THU, FRI, SAT
BE730 = Leeds 08:20 - Belfast 09:25 = MON, TUE, WED, THU, FRI, SAT
BE735 = Belfast 09:35 - Leeds 10:35 = SUN
BE735 = Belfast 10:25 - Leeds 11:25 = MON, TUE, WED, THU, FRI
BE736 = Leeds 11:00 - Belfast 12:05 = SUN
BE736 = Leeds 11:50 - Belfast 12:55 = MON, TUE, WED, THU, FRI
BE731 = Belfast 13:20 - Leeds 14:20 = SAT
BE731 = Belfast 13:40 - Leeds 14:40 = SUN
BE732 = Leeds 14:45 - Belfast 15:45 = SAT
BE732 = Leeds 15:05 - Belfast 16:10 = SUN
BE731 = Belfast 14:50 - Leeds 15:50 = MON, TUE, WED, THU, FRI
BE732 = Leeds 16:15 - Belfast 17:20 = MON, TUE, WED, THU, FRI
BE733 = Belfast 18:50 - Leeds 19:50 = MON, TUE, WED, THU, FRI, SUN
BE734 = Leeds 20:15 - Belfast 21:10 = MON, TUE, WED, THU, FRI, SUN

 

[Seasider]

Reading that timetable they will not be operating the Innsbruck flight for Inghams. Each Saturday flight returns to Belfast after the usual turnround time.

 

[lbaspotter]

Just been informed that flybe are also axing all there planned summer 2014 IT Charter flights. Now if that's the case like you say "Seasider" I wonder what will happen with the weekly Saturday Leeds - Innsbruck service?

The good news so far is that Lakes and Mountains holidays to Austria and flight only deals to Innsbruck from Leeds are still bookable on the Inghams website so I wonder if they are hopeful of drafting a replacement eg Austrian Airlines or some other smaller European airline to operate the flight.
It would be a shame to see the service go because I understand that flybe have been getting some good passenger loads over the past 2/3 years using the Dash 8-Q400's, That good I have even heard reports of them having to leave luggage behind due to been to heavy..

 

[imagineif]

Off the back of continuing losses,

Flybe are going through a radical restructuring process. Many think 2014 could be make or break for the airline, flybe seems to go from one extreme to the other.

A friend of mine has just taken voluntary redundancy and gone to fly at a different carrier, further deliveries of the Embraer 170 are now differed until at least 2016 & shockingly the other month Flybe announced that by the end of the year all the Embraer 195 will be removed from the network. Upto 10 will be parked by the end of May! Signs that they do not fit the model, capacity or economics of the carrier.

Further to this, it now seems to be carving up its network and giving work via franchise agreements - the most recent of which is an announcement that Stobart Air will fly on its behalf from Southend. It also just handed over its LGW slots to Easyjet concluding a deal that was made last year.

Some sensible actions to stem losses but also some chances for revenue generation missed. Not only that, they are now spending a fortune on a re-branding exercise with a new slogan "A to flyBe" - and new paint job for the aircraft.

It has built a negative reputation with regular passengers with poor reliability and punctuality as well as frequent cancellations. It even has the nick name "fly-maybe" ...

It's a shame to see another British carrier dangerously close to the edge & I hope they can pull through and turn it round for themselves but I feel a series of poor choices/decisions in better times have brought them to this demise.

Does anybody know how the loads are performing from LBA or anybody using the services able to comment on service quality & reliability?

 

[LBA787]

It's a shame about flybe. They really made some poor fleet choices leading into the financial slowdown which at this point seem to have cost them the ultimate price. Fingers crossed they can turn it around and bounce back against the orange beast!!

As for LBA-BHD flights they seem to be very well utilised at the moment.

:crazy:

 

[lbaspotter]

The flybe 4x daily Dash 8-Q400 Belfast City - Leeds route is popular. They are carrying up to and above 13,000 pax a month at the moment according to latest CAA stats..
They have been helped by the fact Jet2 dropped its Belfast Int'l route last summer which doubled pax numbers over night.

 

[imagineif]

The BHD has always been the flagship route as it where for Flybe from LBA. Glad to hear that it is still pulling in the numbers.

By the way, not 24 hours after I posted this the new flybe livery was snapped at EMA... what do you think..?

I think it looks like a stick of rock lol

http://worldairlinenews.files.wordpress ... lybelr.jpg

 

[Seasider]

I don't think that picture was taken at EMA.
Are you that this isn't an April Fool?

 

[Jordan-34092]

it looks like it ain't just the planes that are going purple.

 

[imagineif]

@ Seasider

The source of the picture stated it was at EMA -

worldairlinenews.com
Flybe (Exeter) today (April 1) unveiled its new “Faster than road or rail” purple livery. The pictured Bombardier DHC-8-402 (Q400) G-JECY (msn 4157) was the first and was painted at East Midlands as part of its new advertising campaign.

Copyright Photo: Flybe.


No its not an April fool, you can tell its not photo shopped, its not funny and it follows on from the press release they made and the new advertising campaign. Also as posted by another user they are getting new uniforms too, this is a serious brand overhaul from flybe.

 

[whoshotjimmi]

I don't think they need a rebranding, frankly. They simply need to stop arsing about their customers - many of whom are business pax - and provide reliable flights at the right price and get rid of their e-jets. There have been far too many examples of Flybe not delivering to their customers and repainting their planes will not change a god damn thing. They need to step back, take a good hard look at themselves and ask for honest feedback. They may not like what they hear, but it is the best way forward for them. I do not think any passenger would say they needed different coloured aircraft. What they need is to know that their flight will depart and arrive on time, every time. They need to know that they will not be overcharged. They need to know that they will receive good service. And this must never waiver. If they want to get back into the leisure market again, they must make sure that they get the right planes and fill them. Lastly, they must not waste money on things that are completely unnecessary. Purple planes anyone?

 

[imagineif]

You make a number of very valid points, this re branding seems to be an attempt to shed bad reputation and focus on a new campaign... "Faster than car or train" ... when In most cases that is untrue give flybe's punctuality and painting over flaws doesn't fix them.

Flying the heavier E195 on short flights was always going to be a bad move, trying to fly them on longer flights with expensive tickets was another bad move & then when they placed an order for the E170 - I was gob smacked. This aircraft is so uneconomical nobody wants it and even Embraer said it wont be made any longer when the E2 comes out.

In my opinion, buying the E145 fleet of BA was a bad move
Introducing the E195 - did not fit with the airline and its plans for it unrealistic
Taking on all those Extra Dash 8's other carriers decided they didn't want due reliability / landing incidents - another bad move. Punctuality speaks for itself!
Ordering the E170 - suicidal

 

[imagineif]

So flybe are parking their own E195's.... and have leased a Carpatair Fokker 100 ???????

They are off zerrrrr Nuts!

 

[Bigman]

Yes, I can't see the logic of that either. I get the impression that FlyBe are losing the plot...not to mention a new livery!!

 

[ChurchFenton]

I feel it's almost an admission of guilt when a restructuring airline in a financially fragile state introduces a new corporate image. It somehow seems to be an acknowledgement that many of its customers have experienced a below par service in the past and it now wishes to say "Sorry about that, but look we've changed!" in the hope of recapturing business lost. Iberia and American are a couple of high profile examples who have also done this to try to purvey a "new beginning" after high profile debts and suffering a reputation for iffy service.

Time will tell whether they better meet the expectations of their customers in the future, but the new FlyBe livery certainly catches the attention and at least sends out the message that they intend to try to change.

 

[cmj]

Given we have Aberdeen and Southampton (although FlyBe may be cheaper than Eastern) we're gaining Jersey via Southampton.. I'd have prefered FlyBe to go somewhere we didn't have already like Newquay, or even Paris CDG on an AF codeshare.

 

[Bigman]

I'm not knocking it. Aberdeen passenger figures have collapsed in recent months. A year round Jersey is also most welcome.

 

[White Heather]

This is probably the new winter route referred to by Tony Hallwood at the last consultative meeting and referred to in my notes of the meeting. Personally I think it is great news. It was reported at the meeting that Flybe axing Southampton had impacted in a big way on LBA's domestic pax figures, and this is now providing that option again, and the added bonus of cheaper flights to Aberdeen and a 3 times daily link to Jersey, all year round.

It is an interesting concept and reminds me of the 1970's when Channel Airways operated their 'Scottish Flyer' service using Viscounts via LBA. That didnt last long - lets hope this works and maybe Flybe might then consider something different, but operating on similar lines. How about Inverness/Edinburgh/LBA/Bristol/Exeter? This sort of operation is one way of connecting LBA with airports we have lost, but with reduced risk of failure. They must have a pretty good deal with each airport though in terms of landing charges etc. to make this viable.

One thing is for sure - we will see a lot more Dash 8's around LBA, with an additional 6 per day.

 

[yorkguy]

I used to use the AirSouthwest route to Newquay quite a bit which had a 30 minute touch down in Bristol. Even with the added half hour it still beat any other form of transport to the South West. It would be great to get a similar link back. The flights always had significant numbers of business travellers.