Flybe

[dispext]

I sometimes flew between Leeds and Heathrow on the BMI service and when it stopped I looked at flying from Manchester and was stunned to see it was a lot cheaper. Every day there were many flights for £32 yet from Leeds sometimes the cheapest was well over £50. Even Heathrow-Edinburgh was cheaper than Heathrow-Leeds!! I think it's simply because there's two airlines that do those routes (BMI & BA) yet as only BMI did the Leeds route they had no competition so were charging what they liked, knowing the only other alternative was a long train/road journey. Disgraceful isn't it?

What type of business are you in...because thats all it was/is...business...albeit to the detriment of LBA

 

[masere]

I was just replying to Michael who was asking why Flybe flights between Leeds and Exeter are more expensive than between Manchester and Exeter and giving him the obvious answer. Perhaps if the airlines made prices from Leeds the same as those from Manchester or Heathrow they might get more customers. If they wanna charge more "because that's business" then they only have themselves to blame when aircraft are half empty!

 

[Runway 32]

Lets hope this latest email I have just recieved from Flybe means some extra flights from LBA with Flybe!!

"Deal provides a platform for Flybe’s expansion into Continental Europe

We are delighted to inform you that this morning Flybe announced a $5bn order to purchase up to 140 Embraer jet aircraft. The initial firm order of 35 Embraer 175 jets, which will start to arrive into the Flybe fleet in 2011, will provide a platform for us to grow and expand our route network; bringing more and more Flybe travel options to you in the future both at home and in Continental Europe.

Flybe have been flying the 175’s slightly bigger brother, the Embraer 195 jet aircraft for 4 years, and been delighted with its reliability and performance. Feedback from passengers has shown how much you enjoy the comfort and onboard experience. The new aircraft will allow us to maintain our commitment to delivering a product with 30” legroom and 2x2 seating configuration, which we know you prefer to aircraft used by other low cost airlines.

Equally the economic and environmental performance of the new 175 aircraft is in line with Flybe’s strategy of only buying A and B rated eco-label aircraft as part of our strategy to invest in lower emission new technology aircraft.

This deal, yet another significant milestone in Flybe’s history, follows hot on the heels of last week's major agreement with global carrier Air France. It is also building and investing in the continued growth of what has already become Europe’s leading regional airline and one that we hope will offer you more and more travel choices into the next decade."

 

[White Heather]

It would be nice if the Air France deal led to Flybe operating LBA to one of the Paris airports - ideally Orly. With Jet2 doing CDG and Flybe doing Orly it would give passengers hub connections for so many more parts of the world. For example, my sister flies home from Guadaloupe this week and all Air France flights from there go into Orly. She then has to transfer across Paris to CDG and wait for about 5 hours for the Jet2 flight to LBA. I noted that Flybe are tranferring their Paris flights to Southampton from CDG to Orly, so maybe this is something that they might now consider, especially given their tie up with Air France?

Thoughts anyone?

 

[User0001]

I think CDG is the better hub to be honest. I know getting a decent feeder service into CDG is high on the airport's wish list given the SN / BRU link was never replaced and the loss of LHR leaves them with only KL / AMS as the only genuine interlining service. I think we can rest assured they'll be trying to persuade flybe to look at this but I would think every other UK airport without a decent CDG link will be doing the same !

 

[Runway 32]

Lets hope we can get a CDG link that links into the Air France network. I am sure there is a good case for the airport to put this forward to Flybe and Air France given the on-going sucess of the KLM route. If we do get a Flybe / Air France route it will need to be at least three times daily. I am sure this route would out-perform the LBA - LGW service.

 

[Aviador]

I am sure this route would out-perform the LBA - LGW service.

Incidentally, I counted upwards of 50 plus boarding the South bound leg of the Gatwick route the other day. An indication that the route might be starting to pick up maybe.

 

[Bigman]

The SN /BRU link has already been replaced by BMI Regional. Their Star Alliance code shares include Brussels Airlines, SAS, Austrian and Lufthansa. All their flight codes appear on the departure boards up at LBA.

I do agree that we need another operator to Paris, and surely FlyBe would fit the bill.

 

[News Guru]

[textarea]Airline boosts Leeds jobs hope

Hundreds of jobs could be created in Yorkshire following a massive investment in new planes by the Flybe airline.

Hundreds of jobs could be created in Yorkshire following a massive investment in new planes by the Flybe airline.

Flybe, which currently serves more than 20 destinations from Leeds Bradford Airport, has announced the £850m purchase of 35 Embraer E175 aircraft.

The deal also makes provision for the potential buy-up of another 105 Embraer planes.

And today Flybe's chief commercial officer, Mike Rutter, said the outlay might well have significant spin-off effects for the White Rose county's economy.

He told the Yorkshire Evening Post that his firm's expanded fleet could lead to the introduction of new routes from Leeds Bradford to key business destinations in Europe.

Hanover in Germany, Copenhagen in Denmark and Stockholm in Sweden are among the cities that could end up being served by Flybe planes operating out of the West Yorkshire airport.

Each additional route would be expected to attract 300,000 passengers a year, creating an estimated 300 jobs across the Yorkshire region.
Decision

A decision on whether Leeds Bradford will be one of the UK airports getting new destinations on the back of the E175 deal is not due for around six months.

However, the company appears keen to ensure that the Yeadon site is among those benefiting.

Mr Rutter said: "Leeds is one of the places that we favour for expansion as we think it's under-served in terms of direct routes to European business cities."

Exeter-based Flybe says the "economic and environmental strengths" of the E175 played a key part in its purchase decision.

The firm also says the 88-seat aircraft maintains its commitment to a minimum of 30 inches of leg room for passengers.

Flybe, Europe's largest independent regional airline, will take delivery of its 35 confirmed purchases between September 2011 and March 2017.

Its existing destinations from Leeds Bradford include Amsterdam, Belfast, Brussels, Jersey, London Gatwick, Nice and Southampton.

Source[/textarea]

 

[Aviador]

A positive read but factually incorrect. I would love to believe what the article says but we've been reading positive Flybe 'spin' for about three years now.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Mike Rutter's pronouncements can be a little bit like a junior Michael O'Leary at times.

He's suggesting good things for Cardiff with Dusseldorf, Frankfurt and Lyon mentioned.

Nevertheless, although there is a strong suggestion that many of these new aircraft will be used on flights within mainland Europe that presumably will necessitate the setting up of new bases the airline's management has also said it will run flights from key UK cities in its network.

Whether this will be by way of bases in the UK cities or by aircraft flying in and out from European bases doen't seem entirely clear.

It seems that Flybe is moving forward very fast and the good thing is that its aircraft are of a size that suits many routes to many regional airports.

 

[User0001]

A positive read but factually incorrect. I would love to believe what the article says but we've been reading positive Flybe 'spin' for about three years now.

...and given 3 years ago was the start of the crisis in banking which led into the deepest econcomic recession since the 1930s, I think he can be forgiven for not opening up a host of new routes from LBA or anywhere else since then. But of course, he's canny enough to let the airport operators know that they will have to come up with a good deal and that plenty of UK airports are suitable for flybe.

The SN /BRU link has already been replaced by BMI Regional. Their Star Alliance code shares include Brussels Airlines, SAS, Austrian and Lufthansa. All their flight codes appear on the departure boards up at LBA.

The SN / BRU link I'm talking about is the one that used to carry 10 - 12,000 passengers a month, 80% of whom were connecting onto the fairly extensive Sabena network at the time. Bmi may have codeshares coming out of their ears, but the route carries 2,000 passengers a month and almost all are point to point travellers between LBA and BRU. The 100,000 connecting passengers that SN used to have, have not been replaced. Add to that, another 100,000+ that bmi used to push through LHR and a few thousand more that KLM had when the Fokker100s were on the route, and there's a big market for onward worldwide connections that has been lost primarily to MAN.

 

[Aviador]

...and given 3 years ago was the start of the crisis in banking which led into the deepest econcomic recession since the 1930s, I think he can be forgiven for not opening up a host of new routes from LBA or anywhere else since then. But of course, he's canny enough to let the airport operators know that they will have to come up with a good deal and that plenty of UK airports are suitable for flybe.

I am not disputing what you say but if it isn't the company spin doctor at work they could have worded it differently. Something like this might have been more fitting... "Now that the economy is showing signs of recovery...Flybe is looking to expand at Leeds"

Each additional route would be expected to attract 300,000 passengers a year

On the understanding that Ryanair operate Leeds' most popular route - Dublin. Does this mean that each of Flybe's new routes would surpass Dublin as the airports most popular route.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

300,000 per year gives an average of over 800 per day throughout the year.

Based on a 88-seat Embraer 175 this means, assuming every flight full (which they wouldn't be), that each route would have 4 or 5 rotations every day of the year.

And who said the aviation industry couldn't spin?

 

[Galaxy]

Have had an interesting time today booking flights etc for the Autumn Conference season, going to Cuba, Germany (twice) and Edinburgh. Anyway...the point to this post is that I have to present in Germany on a Monday and Edinburgh the Wednesday after. The nearest airport is Frankurt Am Main so have booked a flight with Flybe from Frankfurt to Edinburgh via Birmingham. To get back to Leeds I was going to book a train ticket....however I thought £80 was a bit steep for an off-peak one way, so I went on SkyScanner, and it found me a flight with FlyBe via Opodo from Edinburgh to Leeds via Belfast City for £46 inc taxes! There is a one hour wait in Belfast, but even with this the journey time is still ten minutes less than the train, and seeing as though I live in Cookridge, the airport is a damn site more convenient than Leeds City Station. So a big well done to FlyBe, for beating the train price for me YET AGAIN!

 

[User0001]

Hi,

not posted for a while - sorry. No excuses other than a lot of other commitments.

I cannot believe that Flybe are not considering at least, starting a paris service. Morning and night services would i'm sure work in the not too long run, especially with the recent link up with the KL/AF group. Low fares would also appeal making the route attractive to the leisure and business market. I think they would do better than BMI did and I'm not convinced Jet2 would be able to dissuade Flybe as easily as they did to BMI. Flybe still serve Belfast despite Jet2 after all. I would personally prefer Flybe on the route rather than a reintroduction of the BMI service. Your thoughts?

LUFC

 

[White Heather]

We don't know that they are not considering Paris. They very well may be doing just that, particularly in view of their recent code share deal with Air France. I agree that they would be an ideal airline to operate the route, especially if we could have an Embrear 190 rather than the Dash 8.

 

[backtrack]

We don't know that they are not considering Paris. They very well may be doing just that, particularly in view of their recent code share deal with Air France. I agree that they would be an ideal airline to operate the route, especially if we could have an Embrear 190 rather than the Dash 8.

They could be considering route(s) none of us have yet even mentioned on here, you never know.

It wasnt so long ago some AF/KLM boss was in Leeds, and said he is looking to expand operations from LBA. So far (as far as im aware) nothing has materialised on that front.

An Embraer 190, ideal for a Paris route? Yes, quite possibly. But dont forget the large order the airline has placed for the smaller 170. They may just be awaiting delivery of those to then start looking at further destinations, not just from LBA, but on a more widely regional basis.

 

[White Heather]

There are reports today suggesting that Flybe are looking not only to expand within Europe, but also to acquire a couple of European Airlines in order to help them do so. In particular, they are interested in Scandinavia, which as we all know is a no-go zone from LBA (direct anyway).

Taking all into consideration, the code share agreement with Air France, expanding fleet with suitable aircraft, and increasing passenger figures from LBA, all tend to suggest that the expansion from LBA may yet happen.

 

[WYIA]

Well, just last week, Flybe has signed an agreement to do regional ops on behalf of Finnair