No guarantee Flybe will return to Westcountry
SOUTH West businesses would welcome the return of newly resurrected airline Flybe to the region – but there is no guarantee it will even fly again, let alone to the Westcountry.
A new company, connected to hedge fund Cyrus Capital, called Flybe Ltd has purchased assets of the failed Exeter-headquartered airline from administrators, and hopes to start flights in 2021. While the venture currently has an operating licence (OL), the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) revoked it and it is only still in place because an appeal has been lodged. A decision will be taken by transport minister Grant Shapps.
Administrators have already sold the airline’s former training academy in Exeter to Devon County Council for £3.6 million and have returned 65 leased aircraft.
The new company has so far declined to add to an initial statement which said that, subject to vaccination programmes and relaxation of travel restrictions, it plans to launch the new Flybe brand this summer on many of its former routes.
It said the new company will initially be smaller than the original Flybe, which employed 2,000 people, but intends to grow and create jobs.
However, industry insiders say that may be done far from the South West, possibly at Manchester or Birmingham, cities which Flybe used to serve. One insider said: “There will be regional support to encourage them to come back to the South West, but we have no idea whether they will or not.”
Tim Jones, chair of the South West Business Council, has said that, while there is no guarantee the new company will base itself in the region, it would, however, make sense to do so.
“The South West should be the location of the new business,” he said. “We have the credentials, skill sets and infrastructure that can support it. There is a strong case to say the origin of Flybe is in the South West and it would be welcomed back and we could make this a successful business and will vote with our feet by supporting it.”
Kim Conchie, chief executive of Cornwall Chamber of Commerce, said it would be good if the new Flybe could operate from the Duchy’s Newquay Airport. He said: “Cornwall needs regional connectivity. We are a business area bursting with opportunities to build back better – to pick up on a G7 theme.
“We want to showcase to the world our floating offshore wind, our geothermal, our digital, marine and agritech businesses creating and doing things differently. There isn’t a booming economy in the world that doesn’t have a functioning airport. We need Flybe operating from Newquay and working with Cornwall’s entrepreneurs to make flying greener, efficient and easy so we can get clients and investors in and out quickly.”
The original Exeter-headquartered Flybe Ltd collapsed into administration early last year, after the Government withdrew a £100 million rescue package.
The firm, which operated about 4% of UK domestic flights, saw the vast majority of its 2,000 workers made redundant. Administrators have completed a deal with will see an unspecified number of jobs transfer to the new company, previously known as Thyme Opco Limited, but now renamed Flybe Ltd.