With FlyBe collapsing on Thursday, regional carriers Loganair and Eastern Airways are stepping in to replace connectivity lost.
Loganair Embraer ERJ-145 – Image, Loganair
Let’s start with Loganair who are starting up 16 routes
- Aberdeen – Belfast City – Commences 16 March
- Aberdeen – Birmingham – Commences 16 March
- Aberdeen – Jersey – Commences 09 May
- Aberdeen – Manchester – Commences 16 March
- Belfast City – Inverness – Commences 23 March
- Birmingham – Inverness – Commences 16 March
- Cardiff – Edinburgh – Commences 23 March
- Edinburgh – Exeter Commences 23 March
- Edinburgh – Manchester – Commences 23 March
- Edinburgh – Newquay – travel from 20 June
- Edinburgh – Southampton – Commences 15 June
- Exeter – Glasgow – Commences 30 March
- Exeter – Newcastle – Commences 06 July
- Inverness – Jersey – Commences 30 May
- Newcastle – Southampton – Commences 23 March
These flights are available through travel trade sites as well as https://www.loganair.co.uk/
Meanwhile, former franchisee Eastern Airways is adding three new routes to its network
- Aberdeen-Birmingham
- Southampton-Manchester
- Southampton-Newcastle
This is on top of their planned expansion at Teesside Airport (Durham). These services were originally going to be launched under the FlyBe franchise – however, the airline is operating these alone now.
- Teesside – Belfast City – 9th March
- Teesside – Dublin – 9th March
- Teesside – Southampton – 9th March
- Teesside – London City – 27th April
- Teesside – Isle of Man – 30th May (over TT race period)
- Teesside – Alicante – 17 July
These flights are now all bookable at https://www.easternairways.com/
In quotes
Loganair Chief Executive, Jonathan Hinkles, Said:
“The collapse of a long-standing airline like Flybe marks a desperately sad day, especially for the airline’s dedicated team of employees and for customers facing disruption to their journeys. By stepping in so quickly with a comprehensive plan, Loganair is aiming to maintain essential air connectivity within the UK regions to keep customers flying…I am confident that the plans being announced today are robust and sustainable, enabling former Flybe customers to benefit from Loganair’s high standards of customer service and on-time performance on a range of new routes”
Tony Burgess, Managing Director of Eastern Airways, said:
“We do extend sympathy to all Flybe staff and their families following the sad news that Flybe has ceased trading.
“As a former franchise partner of Flybe, this will not impact on any flights and routes operated by Eastern Airways. Revised booking facilities on Eastern Airways services will be advised on EasternAirways.com, which includes the quick recovery on Aberdeen-Birmingham, Southampton-Manchester and Southampton-Newcastle routes.
“Eastern Airways remains fully committed to providing regional connectivity with business links to capital cities and industrial centres.”
Filling in (profitable) regional gaps
With FlyBe gone, this is a chance for other airlines to examine their networks and see where they can fill in and where the profitable routes are. With FlyBe’s over-expansion and failure to react to changing markets and needs, its a chance to move in with minimal trouble.
Providing the routes are sustainable, there could be a chance for these regional links to be maintained (either as on a commercial basis or as a Public Service Obligation operated service).
With the downturn in traffic due to the ongoing Human Malware, it will be interesting to see which routes survive in six months.
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