Flybe expands UK bases
Flybe is launching 16 new routes for its summer schedule next year including two new bases in the UK.
The new bases are Leeds/Bradford and Norwich airports, which add to the airline’s current bases at Southampton, Liverpool, Exeter, Belfast and Birmingham.
Flybe joins no-frills carrier Jet2 and Eastern Airways at Leeds/Bradford, although they will not compete directly on any routes. At Norwich Flybe joins Air Wales and also Eastern Airways with whom it will compete directly on the Edinburgh route.
The expansion is part of a strategy to become the leading regional business and leisure carrier in the UK.
Flybe’s new flights, which will launch at the end of March next year, include Leeds to Exeter and Southampton, Norwich to Belfast, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Jersey and Southampton to Limoges, Leeds, Bordeaux, Liverpool and Rennes.
Flybe has 31 aircraft and says it will carry four million passengers in the 2004-05 financial year. It recently released half-year profits of £14 million coupled with 24% growth in passenger traffic.
Report by Ginny McGrath
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