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14 routes axed as Flybe takes over BA Connect
Flybe is closing 14 BA Connect routes as part of its takover of the loss-making British Airways regional arm.
BA will incur an additional charge of £20 million to cover losses to the end of February at BA Connect.
The completion of the deal by Flybe includes £96 million of cash funding by BA to cover the inefficiencies of operating 50-seat jets and a degree of protection over future values of these aircraft until they are retired, a statement said.
Flybe said: “BA Connect is a loss-making business. There has had to be some difficult decisions but Flybe will take over 20 of the routes currently operated by BA Connect and are introducing 11 new routes.”
The routes being cancelled are:
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Aberdeen to Manchester
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Birmingham to Geneva
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Birmingham to Lyon
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Birmingham to Madrid
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Birmingham to Berlin
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Edinburgh to Hamburg
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Geneva to Manchester
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Lyon to Manchester
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Madrid to Manchester
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Berlin to Manchester
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Vienna to Manchester
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Bristol to Munich
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Bristol to Milan
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Bristol to Zurich
The acquisition, which does not include BA Connect’s London City or Manchester-New York routes, creates a business with more than £500 million in revenues and which will fly nearly 10 million passengers once the fleet transition is complete.
Flybe will take over many BA Connect routes with “significant price savings” of an average of £19 per passenger. But a number of loss-making routes will be shut from Birmingham, Manchester and Scottish airports.
In total, the deal brings the creation of 11 new routes out of Flybe’s regional bases and sees the airline taking over 20 routes currently operated by BA Connect.
Flybe claims it will become Europe’s largest regional airline with the creation of 11 new routes from regional airports:
· Manchester to Guernsey
· Manchester to Bergerac
· Manchester to Limoges
· Manchester to La Rochelle
· Southampton to Paris
· Southampton to Isle of Man
· Southampton to Frankfurt
· Gatwick to Bergerac
· Cardiff to Paris
· Edinburgh to Rennes
· Guernsey to Norwich
The new Flybe routes previously operated by BA Connect with fares cut are:
- Birmingham – Aberdeen
Birmingham – Paris
Birmingham – Dusseldorf
Birmingham – Rennes
Birmingham – Hamburg
Birmingham – Milan
Birmingham – Stuttgart
Edinburgh – Paris
London Gatwick – Inverness
London Gatwick – Isle of Man
Manchester – Brussels
Manchester – Paris
Manchester – Dusseldorf
Manchester – Edinburgh
Manchester – Rennes
Manchester – Glasgow
Manchester – Hannover
Manchester – Isle of Man
Manchester – Milan
Manchester – Jersey (currently offered via Southampton)
The expanded airline will operate 152 routes in total, flying from 22 UK and 34 European airports with new routes to key European centres including Paris, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt and Milan.
Flybe plans to increase its current commitment to invest $1.2 billion in new aircraft to over $2 billion by increasing the fleet to over 80 Bombardier Q400 and Embraer 195 aircraft by 2010.
BA is also providing Flybe with commercial support by entering into a one way codeshare agreement on all previous BA Connect routes, allowing for a smooth consumer transition to the Flybe brand.
BA will receive a 15% interest in Flybe as part of the deal.
Flybe chairman and chief executive Jim French said: “The acquisition of BA Connect gives us critical mass across our domestic and European city markets and, with valuable slots at congested European airports, brings our growth plans forward by two years. Flybe is now firmly established as one of the UK’s largest airlines.
“Flybe is above all a regional airline and the new routes this acquisition brings to our network reinforces our commitment to serving the whole of the UK. We are playing our part in supporting the regional economies of the UK in line with the Government’s own ambitions.
“Flybe will employ over 3,000 staff in the new combined business. We are confident the new airline will offer exciting and continued career opportunities. During the last four months Flybe has worked closely with all unions and staff associations to ensure that all staff would be working on the same terms and conditions from the commencement of the new, combined business.”
by Phil Davies
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