NEWS TRAVEL WEEKLY BUSINESS CONTINUED FROM THE BACK


strong foundation to secure the long-term future of Flybe” and said they “intend to provide up to £80 million of further funding” to invest in the business. They promise “enhanced connectivity to the UK regions and Ireland under the Virgin Atlantic brand”, “improved connectivity at Manchester and eathrowdz and Dzan enhanced


presence at Manchester airport ȏandȐ


eathrow and with the


potential to grow in ondon Southend airport”. lybe chief executive


Christine Ourmières-Widener said: “The industry is suffering from higher fuel costs, currency ϐluctuations and signiϐicant uncertainties presented by rexitǤ


eǯve been affected by


all these factorsǡ which have put pressure on short-term ϐinancial performanceǤ


t the


same time, Flybe suffered from a number of legacy issues. By combining to form a larger, stronger group we will be better placed to withstand theseǤdz irgin


tlantic chief executive


Shai Weiss said: “Together, we can provide greater connectivity to our long-haul network and that of our jointǦ venture partner Delta Air Lines at


anchester and eathrowǤdz


Weiss took over as chief executive from raig


reeger this


month. The Virgin Atlantic-Delta joint venture is due to expand to include Air France-KLM this year, pending regulatory approval. tobart


roup made a


previous takeover bid for Flybe in February last year. Its chief executiveǡ


arwick radyǡ saidǣ


“The combined entity provides an excellent opportunity to continue to grow passenger numbers at London Southend.” Hedge fund Cyrus Capital has irgin


partnered with roup in


the pastǤ t was a launch investor in Virgin America in 2005. irgin


merica was acquired by Alaska Airlines a year ago.


Flybe’s rescue is good news for regional airports. By Ian Taylor


Flybe’s links Heathrow and Manchester are the prize


Flybe’s rescue will be a relief to a host of UK regional airports and welcomed by many agents in the regions. The carrier is Europe’s largest


regional airline and the largest scheduled operator at airports including Aberdeen, Belfast City, Birmingham, Cardiff, Doncaster, hefϐieldǡ


xeterǡ lasgow and


Southampton. Flybe operates 76 aircraft on


more than 190 routes in the UK and western


uropeǡ but almost


55% of its services are domestic. The carrier began services to


London City in 2014, connecting Aberdeen, Belfast, Edinburgh, ewcastle and xeter to the and it launched to


eathrow for


the ϐirst time in ʹ017 with daily shuttle services to and from Edinburgh and Aberdeen. lybe also operates extensive


services to and from Manchester, and ϐlights to and aris


harles de


msterdam chiphol aulleǡ as it


has sought through its scheduling to offer an increasing number of connections to longǦhaul ϐlightsǤ he


eathrowǦ dinburghǦ


Flybe’s 40 years: a brief history


Q 1979: Flybe is founded as Jersey European Airways to connect the Channel island to


the UK and France Q 1983: Taken over and expanded by industrialist Jack


Walker’s Walker Steel Group Q 1985: Switches headquarters


to Exeter Q 2000: Renames as British


European Airways Q 2002: Renames as Flybe


118travelweekly.co.uk17 January 2019 ityǡ MANCHESTER: Flybe operates many routes to the airport, a Virgin base berdeen ϐlights stemmed from


the carrier’s takeover of former BMI slots released by British irways owner


as a condition


of its acquisition of BMI in 2012. Virgin Atlantic aims to develop regional services into and


eathrow anchesterǡ two of its three


main basesǡ with the takeover of Flybe. It hopes that operating lybeǯs ϐleet proves economically sustainableǡ whatever the problems experienced by lybeǤ oweverǡ


slots at atwick Ȃ Q 2007: Acquires former BA


regional carrier BA Connect Q 2010: Partially lists on the Stock Exchange and is valued at £215 million. The timing, following the ϐinancial crisis and recession of 2008-09, proves poor. Flybe’s stock goes on to fall fairly consistently despite a


series of restructuring attempts Q 2013: Jack Walker Estate sells remaining 48% stake. Long-time head Jim French gives way to ex-


easyJet executive Saad Hammad Q 2017: Christine Ourmières- Widener becomes chief executive


Q 2019: Accepts takeover bid by consortium comprising Virgin Atlantic, Stobart Group and Cyrus Capital Partners


other main base Ȃ to easy et in ʹ01͵Ǥ he tobart


roupǡ which is


investing in Flybe alongside Virgin Atlantic, aims to protect its Stobart Air investment through the deal and to develop Southend airport. Stobart Air already operates ϐlights on behalf of


lybe under a franchise agreementǤ oweverǡ


lybe sold most of its irgin


tlanticǯs


Stobart announced last October that it was ending its deal with lybe after less than two years and despite spending £18 million on it because of expansion plans by easy et and yanair at outhendǤ


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