Flybe

[Aceshigh]

Will loganair codeshare ?

 

[Scottie Dog]

I really hope so. The alternative is that they have to establish code shares with the longhaul carriers in their own right.

Any thoughts?

 

[EGCC_MAN]

FlyBe marketing is pushing out an ad suggesting that a major announcement is on the way.

"Something BIG is coming to FlyBe!"

Now is this just another seat-sale or could it be something more? We know that Saad Hammad left the company recently (and apparently not at a time of his own choosing). We know that the share price is extremely low. The market capitalisation of the entire company is just £95.33m. You'd get about four new DHC8-400's for that money.

So could the door be open to a takeover announcement? Or maybe even some new franchise arrangement where FlyBe itself assumes the livery of one of the majors?

We are told by a poster on another forum that there are good reasons not in the public domain for FlyBe and Loganair going their seperate ways.

Is something BIG really brewing? Or will it be just another seat sale?

 

[Jerry]

Is something BIG really brewing? Or will it be just another seat sale?

I'm wondering if it could be something to do with Air Berlin?
Flybe have just recently started a codeshare agreement with them and they are setting up a DUS crew base and Air Berlin are restructuring to cut costs. They recently wet leased 40 A320's to Lufthansa/Eurowings.
Their regional side operates Q400s so i'm wondering if Flybe could take them over along with the regional contract out of DUS and TXL and Air Berlin folds LGW saving themselves money and Flybe get established in Germany.
Or it could be Xmas farecracker!

 

[Aceshigh]

"Etihad UK" has nice "ring".

They seem open to investing in internal airlines within other countries.

And would throw lots of cash at the venture.

 

[Jerry]

"Etihad UK" has nice "ring".

They seem open to investing in internal airlines within other countries.

And would throw lots of cash at the venture.

That could be another option and they could go bigger with it and turn Flybe into their feeder airline for Europe as Flybe does fly into a lot of the big European hubs and Flybe could be there feeder airline for the other airlines they have stakes in.

 

[Dobbo]

If something like that happened it might make life that bit harder for some of the other airlines who use Flybe to feed their services at MAN.

 

[IanFarquharson]

FLYBE ANNOUNCES OPENING OF FIRST EUROPEAN BASE IN DUSSELDORF
Flybe, Europe’s largest regional airline, has announced plans to open its first European crew base on 1st February 2017 having secured an agreement with Dusseldorf Airport.

21ST NOVEMBER 2016

Germany is becoming an increasingly important market for Flybe, which now offers six routes to Dusseldorf. These are from Birmingham, Cardiff, Doncaster Sheffield, Manchester and Southampton with the latest route from London City having started last month. The launch of a Dusseldorf base underlines Flybe’s commitment to serving Germany and will ensure an even more efficient and reliable service.

Dusseldorf is the capital of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), the most populous state in Germany and the city’s airport is the country’s third largest commercial airport, with approximately 22 million annual passengers a year passing through its doors.

In preparation for the opening of the new base, Flybe has recently embarked on a high profile recruitment drive for more than 60 pilots and cabin crew, together with identifying and sourcing a complement of engineering support for the two 78-seat Bombardier Q400 turboprop aircraft. These aircraft currently serve Dusseldorf with UK-based crew.

In readiness for the start of operations at the beginning of February 2017, the first crew have already been recruited and will start training at the airline’s Training Academy in Exeter in early January. Flybe is also using the opportunity to widen its recruitment net in continental Europe beyond Germany.

The airline currently deploys 41% of its seat capacity on UK to Europe routes with 13 routes between the UK and Germany, including the six to Dusseldorf. One way fares start from £39.99 (€50) including taxes and charges available at www.flybe.com.

All Flybe’s Dusseldorf routes offer customers the added benefits of seamless travel to and from their regional airport through its codeshare agreement with airberlin .This codeshare is important in providing a steady feed of business travellers and holidaymakers via airberlin's Dusseldorf hubs to and from Scandinavia, Poland, Italy, France, Austria and Switzerland, as well as to cities around the world, such as Abu Dhabi and New York. Within Germany, airberlin provides connections from its hubs to popular destinations such as Munich, Stuttgart, Hamburg and Nuremberg.


Flybe’s Chief Revenue Officer, Vincent Hodder says: “The decision to open a new crew base in Dusseldorf marks an important milestone for Flybe. Regional communities are increasingly under-served by mainstream airlines and alternative modes of transport in mainland Europe as they are in the UK. Local basing of aircraft and crew will help us serve the local community in and around Dusseldorf much more cost-effectively. With strong business as well as leisure traffic resulting from Germany’s position as a key economic powerhouse, there is a high travel propensity for both."

"We are very pleased that Flybe relies on Dusseldorf,” added Thomas Schnalke, the airport’s CEO. “The airline's commitment to NRW's largest airport demonstrates the attractiveness of the location and the importance of the entire region."

 

[Jerry]

But that was announced before. Around the time they announced LCY-DUS i think. I'm wondering if it's something else as Flybe haven't released flights for S17 for a lot of airports including MAN.

 

[EGCC_MAN]

Just for clarification, the Dusseldorf base press release is two days old. The FlyBe "something BIG coming" teasers appeared today, November 23rd. So whilst the DUS base is important news, the "something BIG" announcement must relate to another development.

Now this might be a total thanksgiving coincidence, but could there be a press conference with two British Airways B789's sitting in the background? 2+2=5, maybe. Or is there a chance that 2+2 could make 4?

A deal with BA could wipe out alot of those pesky interline deals with foreign long-haul carriers operating from the regions. That could make a Big Airline very happy. OUCH!

Just a thought!

 

[IanFarquharson]

BA longhaul in the regions = 0%
The 789's are just parking up
FlyBe let's hope there is another big route announcment

 

[Jerry]

A deal with BA could wipe out alot of those pesky interline deals with foreign long-haul carriers operating from the regions. That could make a Big Airline very happy. OUCH!

Also a codeshare with BA could also be extended possibly to OneWorld? and give BA the ability to sell flights from airports it doesn't operate form ie CWL it does it with Vueling. Also Flybe's Newquay flight to LGW could feed as well and if they are looking well into the future when LHR3 gets built then it may be beneficial for BA to an airline feeding it from the regions without it having to do the flights itself. Could Flybe codeshare for both Virgin and BA?

 

[IanFarquharson]

BIG announcement = FlyBe Black Friday Sale ?

 

[Jerry]

It'll probably be a promo in the end!

 

[EGCC_MAN]

Let's hope that's all it is. If the offers are good, I'm in!

Problem is, any major airline could buy out FlyBe for pocket change right now. And alot of BA's competitors codeshare with FlyBe, relying on them for regional feed. BA wouldn't need to be interested in launching regional long-haul of their own. Taking down their competitors' feed could be incentive enough at FlyBe's current shareprice.

 

[Aceshigh]

It gets Flybe out of a hole AND would tie in with the rumours of a press conference that tied in with the 787 to Manchester rumour.

Parking at Manchester regardless of maintenance still makes little sense , but maybe it does .....

 

[Coathanger16]

Another story to have appeared recently:

http://www.independent.co.uk/travel...ghts-heathrow-liverpool-newquay-a7433506.html

Wild speculation - if British Airways were to do a deal with Flybe, it could mean the latter feeding passengers into LHR for the former. BA aren't interested in setting up new domestic routes from Heathrow, as even with a third runway, they would rather use their aircraft on more profitable routes. Flybe have been very vocal over the last year or so about wanting to connect the regions to Heathrow.

Could this something big be a BA/Flybe deal? I suspect not, though I thinks its probably more than just a sale of some kind.

 

[IanFarquharson]

MAN-AMS in S17 is only 4 a day and DUS is only 3 with the other frequencies looking similar to last summer.

BHX has DUS back to 4 daily and STR two daily and the third Milan is in the timetable but not booking engine. Nantes moves to M, W, Fr & Sun and Biarritz three a week from the end of May, Knock daily at the same time. Flybe 402 departs BHX for BHD at 08.30 and 404 at 08.30 making 8 a day but only 7 inbounds - how can it get past testing? Toulouse continues with similar frequencies on Bergerac, Bordeaux & LUX.

 

[Scottie Dog]

I started looking at the schedules from Manchester this afternoon, however they seemed to be changing all the time.

I suspect that there may well be more changes/updates to come over the next couple of days.

 

[Aceshigh]

I cannot work out what on earth Flybe are up to. Assuming there is a large increase in slots you would expect these to be in the search engine now ?

But they are advertising their 2017 schedules on social media as of 3 hours ago but there appears to be zero difference in frequency to main destinations that I checked.

Would you not put everything on place prior to a massive launch ?

Week 1 May 2017

Inv
Sou
Jersey
IOM
Ext
Nwi
NQY

Etc etc

Any ideas ?