Flybe’s Magnificent Seven sees Birmingham Airport become its largest regional base
LOW cost airline Flybe has announced a major expansion of new flights at Birmingham Airport in one of its largest ever investments in regional services.
The airline is introducing seven new services, basing three new jets at the airport and increasing the frequency of its services to three other destinations. The move will establish Birmingham as its largest regional base.
The move is also set to create 50 new jobs at the airport – effectively wiping out the 50 losses the airline announced in the autumn as part of a 500-strong redundancy programme.
The announcement came as the airline reported its third quarter trading for 2013/14 was in line with overall management expectations. Revenue per seat was up 2.3%, while costs per seat (excluding fuel and restructuring costs) were down 5.2%.
The new services are to: Florence, Cologne, Toulouse, Porto, Alicante, Palma and Bordeaux, while additional flights are being laid on to serve Hanover, Milan and Stuttgart.
The Exeter-based airline said it believed the routes would be well supported by both the business and leisure sectors and Birmingham Airport has predicted the routes could see another 400,000 passengers using the airport each year.
The airline has drafted in three new Embraer 175s, each configured to a 2×2 seat layout. The investment increases the size of the Flybe fleet at Birmingham to 13 aircraft.
Paul Simmons, Flybe’s Chief Commercial Officer said at a press conference in Birmingham: “Today’s news reinforces the increasing emphasis that Flybe is putting on its operations at Birmingham Airport. We’re obviously delighted to offer these additional seven new routes. Our decision to support the region by basing an extra three aircraft here is not only a vote of confidence in the local economy but also in the strong relationship we have built with the airport team.”
William Pearson, Birmingham Airport’s Aviation Development Director, added: “By creating new jobs and offering more choice from Birmingham Airport demonstrates Flybe’s commitment to the Midlands region.
“Not only will this growth make Birmingham Airport Flybe’s biggest ever base, it will also become our largest carrier, flying up to 400,000 extra passengers a year and serving nearly two million travellers in total. We thank Flybe for its commitment to Birmingham and look forward to welcoming passengers on these new services this summer.”
Its target is to save £7m in 2013/14 and £26m next year. It has already announced 500 redundancies at its various operations around the UK together with aircraft savings of £14m this year, rising to £27m next year.
However, in its Q3 update it said the job losses were now expected to be lower than originally planned at around 450.
The board said it believed the actions were essential to provide the business with a sustainable cost base and a platform from which it could grow its business.
Q3 revenues under management rose 5% to £203.5m and group revenue stood at £142.9m. It said there had been a 0.4% increase in total revenues in its UK operation to £137.6m despite total seat capacity in UK falling 2.3%. However, costs per seat (excluding fuel and restructuring costs) declined £5.2% to £41.58.
