After a deal was agreed that could pave the way for Flybe to restart operations, Routes looks at what became of the carrier’s UK network since its failure.
As speculation mounts about the future of regional airline Flybe, Routes looks at the carrier’s network and the important role it plays in UK connectivity.
The UK Government’s Regional Air Connectivity Fund was launched last year as a way of encouraging new routes to and from UK regional airports and improving connectivity for business and leisure travellers.
The airports, including Newcastle, Birmingham and Bristol have commissioned new research into the costs of devolving APD, which states that without policies to mitigate the effects of APD cuts in Scotland and Wales, English regional airports could see their passenger numbers fall by around 2.2 million by 2025.
This ‘start up aid’ will be made available from the Regional Air Connectivity Fund which was announced by the UK government in June 2013 and is open to airports with fewer than five million passengers per year. This fund has already been partly distributed to support strategic routes to London from Newquay and Dundee but is now being extended to bids for more routes.
The carrier will launch a twice daily operation between London City and Aberdeen from October 27, 2014 using a 78-seat Bombardier Dash 8-Q400 following British Airways’ recent announcement that it would be withdrawing from the route at the end of the summer season.
As first revealed by The HUB at the end of last month, UK low-fare carrier Flybe is to inaugurate five new routes from London City Airport from the start of the winter schedules in late October 2014.
