London City routes take off for Flybe

Flybe’s network from London City takes off today for the first time as the carrier looks to boost awareness in the capital.

Six new routes will be launched linking the East London airport to Edinburgh and Dublin four times a day as well as thrice daily services to Belfast and Exeter. A twice daily service to Inverness and Aberdeen will also be offered.

Paul Simmons, chief operating officer at Flybe told Travel Daily the new routes had come from a change in strategy for the carrier, which has turned around in the last year.

“When we went through some management changes the airline was in the process of selling slots at London Gatwick which went to easyJet, from which we secured GBP20 million. That was needed as part of the reshape of the airline, and now that we have managed to turn over a small profit we can recapitalise,” he explained.

The new routes have been timed to benefit those travelling from Scotland, Ireland and the South West into London, with the focus on offering regions a reliable London service. To support this the aircraft are based at the other airports and not London City.

Simmons said: “We looked at where we can best serve customers as a regional carrier and London is not well served. Our passengers are mainly business travellers so the most convenient option is London City and we’ve secured a network we are happy with. It’s important to have London in our network.”

‘Preview’ flights from the airport to Edinburgh have already been operating with high loads and ‘encouraging’ feedback, and while it’s too early to know its success Simmons has hopes of growing Flybe’s network from London City.

However he ruled out that Flybe would look into purchasing the Heathrow slots left available now that Virgin Atlantic will stop its Little Red services next year. Little Red pulling out of the airport means slots from Heathrow to Manchester, Glasgow and Edinburgh are available.

Simmons also defended reports that Flybe is pulling out of markets by reducing services, saying its new Q400 aircraft will offer more seats and such ‘serves destinations in a different way’.

sourced:traveldailymedia.com