Flybe mark two – the new Flybe Ltd – officially launched this morning with its inaugural flight departing Birmingham Airport for George Best Belfast City Airport.
Starting with up to four daily flights between the two cities, more routes will come on stream as summer schedules ramp up on a planned fleet of 32 Dash 8-400s.
The new airline launch was celebrated at Birmingham Airport with a double ribbon-cutting ceremony by Flybe’s CEO, Dave Pflieger and Birmingham Airport chief executive, Nick Barton before the hop of just over an hour to Northern Ireland. There, the CEO joined Belfast City Airport’s chief executive, Matthew Hall, to complete the second stage of the honours. Birmingham Airport is home to the carrier’s headquarters and its first crew base with Belfast its second main operational centre.
Dave Pflieger said: “Today is a big day for everyone at Flybe. After a year of incredibly hard work, we are thrilled to have our fast, quiet and fuel/CO2 efficient Dash 8-400 (Q400) aircraft back in the sky connecting customers to two of the UK’s premier regional cities.
“Over the coming weeks and months our flight schedule will further ramp up as we take delivery of additional aircraft and serve other new destinations from Birmingham including Amsterdam, Avignon, Brest, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen.”
Of the link to Northern Ireland’s capital, he added: “We chose Belfast City Airport as an important base for our operations because of its fantastic people, its key location just five minutes from the city centre, and the opportunity it allows to connect Northern Ireland with mainland UK. We have plans to rapidly grow and create further jobs and look forward to adding even more flights as the summer progresses.”
Flybe’s introductory schedule
From April 13:
Belfast City to Birmingham – up to four-times daily
From April 14:
Belfast City to Glasgow – up to four-times daily
From April 28:
Amsterdam to Birmingham – daily
Amsterdam to East Midlands – daily
Belfast City to Leeds Bradford – up to three-times daily
Belfast City to London/Heathrow – up to twice-daily
Leeds Bradford to London/Heathrow – up to three-times daily
From May 28:
Amsterdam to Belfast City – daily
From May 29:
Amsterdam to London/Heathrow – up to twice daily
From June 23:
Belfast City to Edinburgh – up to three-times daily
From July 7:
Belfast City to East Midlands – up to twice daily
Belfast City to Manchester – up to four-times daily
From July 9:
Avignon-Provence to Birmingham – weekly
Brest-Bretagne (BES) to Birmingham – weekly
From July 23:
Avignon-Provence (AVN) to Southampton– weekly
From July 24:
Southampton to Toulon Hyères – weekly
From July 28:
Belfast City to Southampton – up to twice daily
Belfast City to Edinburgh – up to four-times daily
Birmingham to Glasgow – up to three-times daily
From August 18:
Aberdeen to Birmingham – daily
From August 25:
Aberdeen to Belfast City – up to four-times weekly
Belfast City to Inverness – up to four-times weekly
Belfast City to Newcastle – daily
Source: Flybe
