100 Flybe flights a week from city as airline is reincarnated
BUDGET airline Flybe is set to operate almost 100 new flights a week out of Birmingham Airport this year following the rebirth of the carrier.
The company, which is now headquartered at the airport in Solihull, says its summer programme will have 93 domestic and European services out of Birmingham at its peak.
The newly announced destinations are Aberdeen, Amsterdam, Avignon, Belfast City, Brest, Edinburgh and Glasgow with the routes launching at various stages between April and August.
Further services are also due to be announced in the coming months.
The carrier will base three Q400 aircraft at Birmingham Airport and the hope is this will increase to five from August.
Flybe was born out of the former airline of the same name which went into administration two years ago shortly before the covid lockdowns sent shockwaves through the global travel industry.
The brand, intellectual property, stock and equipment was acquired later in 2020 by global private equity house Cyrus Capital which was a shareholder in the old company.
It announced in November that it was opening a new head office at
Birmingham Airport, eschewing its predecessor’s former home in Exeter, and is now planning to add a secondary base at Belfast City Airport.
And earlier this month, a new top team of aviation industry veterans was unveiled, joining chief executive and airline turnaround specialist David Pflieger who was appointed to the firm last April.
He said: “We are delighted to now be out for sale and starting services next month.
“We think our new flights will benefit everyone who wants low fares and more flights to go on holiday and visit loved ones.
“Our new network will also ensure better regional connectivity inside the UK and between various UK and EU regions.”
Birmingham Airport chief executive Nick Barton added: “We welcome Flybe’s route announcement of seven routes from Birmingham Airport for 2022.
“The airline will operate four domestic routes and restore connections to Avignon and Brest.
“These popular French routes will be a welcome addition to our leisure and business travellers and are currently unserved from Birmingham.
“We have worked closely with the airline to offer our customers these popular routes, and currently unserved routes, and are delighted to welcome Flybe back as a partner airline here at Birmingham.”