Flybe, Europe’s leading regional airline, announced that it is heading to London Heathrow for the first time next year to connect the UK’s largest international airport with Scotland, offering a choice of more than 40 scheduled flights a week from Aberdeen and Edinburgh. The new routes complement Flybe’s well-established London City service from the two Scottish airports.
Flybe will operate the slots which became available as a result of commitments required by the European Commission, following the acquisition of BMI by International Consolidated Airlines Group. The airline is not required to pay to use the slots, other than meet Heathrow landing and passenger charges. The slots will not be purchased by Flybe and will therefore not be brought onto the balance sheet.
Flybe will be using Heathrow’s Terminal 2, offering ‘One Stop to the World’ connectivity to its codeshare and interline partners. With this route expansion, effective of March 26, 2017, Flybe will provide up to 18 flights a day between London and Edinburgh, and 10 flights between London and Aberdeen.
Flybe’s Executive Chairman, Simon Laffin, said: “We are delighted to announce our first flights to London Heathrow, significantly enhancing our UK domestic route network and offering even better links between Scotland and London. The new routes to Heathrow complement the existing ones we operate to London City, and will benefit our business customers and customers in Scotland who want to connect with our long haul codeshare partners. We have long been lobbying for Heathrow to offer more opportunities for domestic flights to enhance regional connectivity. Whilst other operators may have dismissed the possibility of further domestic routes into Heathrow, we look forward to working with the airport to further expand the range of domestic destinations.”
UK Aviation Minister Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon commented: “These routes are great news for passengers and businesses who rely on strong links between Scotland and Heathrow, the UK’s major hub airport, opening up more opportunities to connect Aberdeen and Edinburgh with destinations around the world. It is precisely these sorts of connections which make expanding Heathrow the preferred choice for the UK, to deliver an economy that works for everyone.”
About Flybe
Flybe, Europe’s largest regional airline – 215 routes serving 10 countries from 77 departure points, 37 UK/40 European airports* (all routes on sale Nov’16 – Apr‘17); Operates more UK domestic flights than any other airline (UK CAA May’15 – Apr’16); One of only two UK-based carriers in top 20 global airlines punctuality league table by OAG (Jan ’16) and named top UK airline for punctuality in report issued by UK consumer watchdog Which? (Dec 2014); 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 recognized Training Academy in Exeter with flight deck and cabin crew simulator facilities, 26 classrooms and 150-seat conference facility.
*Flown under the Flybe brand
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