Flybe, Leading regional airline strengthens continued commitment to serving Scotland with six routes now on sale including Sumburgh, Kirkwall and Stornoway
Copyright Flybe
Flybe forging Eastern link
Flybe, Europe’s largest regional airline, has today (6th June 2017) announced it has signed Heads of Terms with Eastern Airways to establish a new alliance.
It is the first step towards finalising a five year franchise partnership under which Eastern will operate its scheduled route network under the Flybe brand; and agreeing a joint revenue and risk sharing agreement, covering four Eastern aircraft, to fly existing Flybe branded routes from Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Manchester.
The four aircraft will operate under the Flybe franchise and significantly improve connectivity for Scotland.
The aim is for contracts to be finalised and signed within the next few weeks, with tickets on sale from today at www.flybe.com for the six routes that will operate under the joint venture. One way fares are from £49.46 including taxes and charges and effective for travel from 1st September 2017. The routes are as follows*:
- Aberdeen – Sumburgh& Kirkwall: Up to 3 flights a day
- Edinburgh & Glasgow – Sumburgh: Daily flights
- Glasgow – Stornoway: Up to 3 flights a day
- Glasgow to Manchester: Up to four flights a day
Full details of individual schedules are available at www.flybe.com
Eastern Airways
Eastern is a well-established UK based regional airline, whose head office is at Humberside Airport. It operates scheduled domestic and short haul international services and private charter services, with hubs at Aberdeen, Norwich, Teesside, Newcastle, Southampton, Leeds, Cardiff and Paris and its scheduled network including routes from these airports, will be available to book on flybe.com from 1st September.
Christine Ourmieres-Widener, Flybe CEO said: “This alliance with Eastern Airways is an excellent opportunity to strengthen the Flybe network. We already operate flights at a number of common airports and this will enable passengers to connect to a greater number of destinations, across the UK and into Europe, all booked through flybe.com. Eastern will operate routes from Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Manchester to offer an enhanced service to passengers based in Scotland and travelling to Scotland. Combined with our flights to Heathrow from Edinburgh and Aberdeen, this demonstrates our strong commitment to serving Scotland.”
Richard Lake, Chief Executive of Eastern Airways, added: “This alliance will benefit both airlines as not only does it strengthen Flybe’s network, but broadens our distribution and enhances connection opportunities for our customers through its global airline association. We have specialised in fixed-wing flying in the oil and gas market for many years and our expertise will provide a greater opportunity to further develop offshore connectivity to Flybe’s network.”
*Flybe announced on 21st November 2016 that the franchise agreement with Loganair to fly under the Flybe brand would be discontinued from the end of August 2017. Eastern Airways will operate the routes listed above from 1st September 2017.
About Flybe:
Flybe, Europe's largest regional airline – 232 routes serving 15 countries from 87 departure points, 38 UK/49 European airports* (all routes on sale Jan’17 – Oct‘17); Operates more UK domestic flights than any other airline (UK CAA May’15 – Apr’16); Rated best UK airline for punctuality and sixth in the world in the global airlines punctuality league table by OAG (Jan ’17); named ‘Best Short-Haul Airline’ at the 2016 Business Travel Awards (Jan ‘16); The largest scheduled airline by air traffic movements at Belfast City, Birmingham, Cardiff, Exeter, Isle of Man, Jersey, Manchester, Newquay and Southampton airports (UK CAA Apr ’16); Operates fleet of 76 aircraft – 52 Bombardier Q400, 9 Embraer 195, 11 E175 & 5 ATR 72s; Codeshares with BA, Air France, Etihad, Finnair, Aer Lingus, Cathay Pacific, Emirates, Virgin Atlantic, Air India, Air Berlin and Singapore Airlines; 70% coverage of reporting airports (UK CAA Apr’16); Has its own globally recognised Training Academy in Exeter with flight deck and cabin crew simulator facilities, 26 classrooms and 150-seat conference facility.
*Flown under the Flybe brand
