Жабық британдық аймақтық әуежол компаниясы Flybe тарихы

Defunct regional airline of the United Kingdom
the former British regional airline

Flybe (pronounced '/f//l//aɪ/,/b//iː/), styled as flybe, was a British airline based in Exeter, England. Until its sale to Connect Airways in 2019, it was the largest independent regional airline in Europe. Flybe once provided more than half of UK domestic flights outside London. The airline was launched in 1979 as Jersey European Airways following the merger of Intra Airways and Express Air Services. In 1983, the airline was sold to Walker Steel Group, which also owned Spacegrand Aviation, and the two airlines were merged under the Jersey European name during 1985. The airline experienced significant growth during the 1990s; it was in this period that Jersey European Airways served as the launch customer for the Embraer E 195 regional airliner. The firm was renamed British European in 2000 and Flybe in 2002. On 3 November 2006, it was announced that Flybe was in the process of purchasing BA Connect, which resulted in the airline becoming the largest regional airline in Europe. On 10 December 2010, the company was floated in an IPO on the London Stock Exchange. In February 2019, the airline was sold to the Connect Airways consortium, backed by Virgin Atlantic and Stobart Aviation. Connect Airways intended Flybe and Stobart Air to subsequently rebrand as Virgin Connect, though they would have retained their own Air Operator Certificates. On 5 March 2020, Flybe filed for administration and ceased all operations. The airline, which had been struggling for several months, claimed that its difficulties were compounded by the impact of the COVID 19 pandemic on bookings. In October 2020, Thyme Opco, a company linked to former shareholder Cyrus Capital, reached an agreement with the administrators to purchase the Flybe brand and relaunch the airline in 2021, subject to regulatory approvals. In April 2021, the new company renamed itself Flybe Limited, obtained an operating licence, route licences and airport slots; the first flight took place on 13 April 2022. The relaunched airline ceased trading on 28 January 2023.

Flybe started operations on 1 November 1979 as Jersey European Airways as a result of a merger of the Jersey based Intra Airways and the Bournemouth based Express Air Services. It was founded by John Habin, a resident of Jersey and the majority investor. After selling Aviation Beauport and other business interests, Habin invested in the firm so that it could establish several routes from Jersey Airport to major airports in the UK. In 1985, Jersey European Airways carried 160,000 passengers and achieved an annual revenue of just under £9million. That same year, the airline introduced a business class service aboard some aircraft. That same year, the airline, which operated a mixed fleet of 12 British Aerospace 146s, four Fokker F27s and two Short 360s, was in the process of leasing additional BAe 146s to cater for expansion; Jim French, Jersey European's deputy chief executive, announced that it was performing detailed studies with the aim of introducing larger airliners in the 150 to 170 seat class, such as the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 families.

In June 2000, the airline announced that it had rebranded itself British European; according to a company spokesperson, this was due to the Jersey European Airways name no longer being an accurate reflection of the scope of the routes being covered. This name was soon shortened to simply Flybe on 18 July 2002, after which the airline repositioning itself as a full service, low fare airline. Various pricing and product changes were made in line with this position, such as discounted one way tickets, the abolition of overbooking practices, a customer charter of the airline's service standards, as well as compensation for delays. In June 2005, it was announced that Flybe would procure a fleet of 26 Embraer E 195 regional airliners; it would claim that it had opted for the 118 seat E 195 over rival 150 seat aircraft due to economics and performance benefits. Flybe would serve as the launch customer for the E 195, receiving the first example of the type during the later half of 2006. Initially, the E 195 fleet were assigned to the airline's high volume trunk routes, but the firm later planned to use it on new routes to expand their network. Further E 195s would be ordered by the airline over the following decade, the type making up a major proportion of Flybe's fleet. On 3 November 2006, it was announced that Flybe would buy BA Connect, except for that airline's services out of London City Airport. During March 2007, this takeover was completed; as a consequence of the BA Connect takeover, the ownership of Flybe was divided between Rosedale Aviation Holdings (69%), Flybe staff (16%) and the International Airlines Group (15%). The acquisition increased Flybe's route network in both the UK and continental Europe, making Flybe Europe's largest regional airline. On 14 January 2008, it was announced that Flybe had signed a franchise agreement with Scottish airline Loganair, to commence on 26 October 2008 following the termination of Loganair's franchise agreement with British Airways on 25 October 2008. The agreement would see Loganair aircraft flying in Flybe colours on 55 routes from Scotland. In 2008, in order to avoid losing a £280,000 rebate from Norwich Airport, Flybe advertised for "actors", as well as offering free return flights to Dublin on its website. As a result, the environmental group Friends of the Earth called on the government to launch an investigation into the aviation industry. Chief Executive Officer Jim French was recognised in the 2009 Queen's Birthday Honours List with a CBE for his services to the airline industry. On 10 December 2010, Flybe floated in an IPO on the London Stock Exchange, with trading in shares commencing on the same day. Full public release of shares followed on 15 December 2010. The share price was set at 295p, valuing the company at approximately £215million, and raising £66million for the company, half of which was to pay for fleet expansion.

On 23 May 2013, it was reported that Flybe had sold its slots at Gatwick Airport to EasyJet for £20million, and that the slots would be handed over to EasyJet on 29 March 2014. CEO and chairman Jim French retired in August 2013, leaving the post of CEO to Saad Hammad, formerly of EasyJet, while Simon Laffin became chairman. By November 2013, Hammad had shaken up the operation, requesting the resignations of three top managers within six weeks of his arrival. Out of 158 routes flown at the time, over 60 did not cover their direct operating expenses and the costs of crew and aircraft. In March 2014, it was announced that Flybe would undergo a major brand refresh. This new scheme included a new purple aircraft livery, new interior features and new uniforms. During June 2014, British Airways sold most of its remaining stake in the airline; it had already been reduced to 5% by share issues. In early 2016, it was announced that Flybe had negotiated a six year agreement with SAS Scandinavian Airlines to fly 4 ATR 72–9 aircraft on their behalf, starting in October 2016. On 4 March 2015, Flybe announced new routes from Cardiff Airport bringing the number of routes to eleven. Flybe also stated their intention to create a new base at Cardiff Airport in summer 2015, initially basing two Embraer 195 aircraft there, which subsequently increased to three. On 10 November 2015, Flybe announced that it would base two Embraer 195 aircraft at Doncaster Sheffield Airport, starting new routes to Amsterdam, Berlin Tegel, Paris CDG, Jersey, Alicante, Málaga, Faro and Newquay as of 2016. This announcement came on the same day that Flybe announced that they would be pulling flights from Bournemouth Airport. Dublin Airport was added in October 2016, taking over where Stobart Air pulled out. On 26 October 2016, it was announced that Hammad would be standing down as CEO with immediate effect and that consequently, Flybe were beginning the process of finding a replacement. On 21 November 2016, Flybe announced it was to open its first European base at Düsseldorf Airport. In February 2017 this commenced with two aircraft alongside 60 pilots, cabin crew and engineers. On 22 December 2016, Flybe started selling flights for 12 further destinations from Southend Airport, in an extension to their existing franchise operation with Stobart Air. Flybe and Loganair separately announced that their franchise agreement would terminate in October 2017. Flybe then announced a partnership with Eastern Airways and would now operate routes in direct competition with Loganair – namely flights from the Scottish mainland to Stornoway, Kirkwall and Sumburgh. On 16 January 2017, former CityJet boss Christine Ourmieres Widener, took over the role of CEO after Saad Hammad left in October 2016. Later in the year, Flybe started flying from Heathrow to Aberdeen and Edinburgh taking over slots previously used by Virgin Atlantic Little Red. On 22 February 2018, franchise partner Stobart Air confirmed interest in a takeover bid of 100% of Flybe for an undisclosed fee. However this bid was rejected by the carrier and Stobart scrapped its interest on 22 March 2018, causing share prices in the airline, which had climbed by up to 25% following the bid, to drop back to their previous level. In September 2018, a revised aircraft livery was launched, with purple and white being retained but lilac replacing the red and yellow. On 14 November 2018, after the airline's shares fell by 75%, Flybe announced that it was talking with various parties about a potential sale of the business, as part of a wide ranging review of strategic options. On 22 November, it emerged that Virgin Atlantic was one of the parties with which Flybe had been holding discussions; Flybe's slots at Heathrow were of particular interest to Virgin Atlantic, along with the potential to use Flybe to feed passengers into the Virgin Atlantic hubs at Manchester and London Heathrow.

Flybe retired its final Embraer 195s in February 2020, which were subsequently returned to lessors once retired. Flybe had stated the Q400 was to remain the backbone of its fleet going forward.

Flybe became the world's largest operator of the Dash 8 Q400 after it added 24 leased from Republic Airways in 2014. In September 2014, Republic Airways agreed to lease 24 of their Q400 aircraft to Flybe with delivery over two years starting from March 2018. In June 2017, Flybe announced that due to a loss of near to £20million, it would retire six Q400 aircraft from 2017. When Flybe collapsed in March 2020 all of its 54 Dash 8 Q400s were placed into storage. In January 2021, Canadian aerial firefighting specialist Conair Group announced that it had purchased 11 of Flybe's Q400 for conversion into water bombers and multi role firefighting aircraft.

On 20 July 2010, Flybe placed an order for 35 Embraer 175 aircraft worth US$1.3 billion (£850million), with options for 65 more (value $2.3billionn/£1.5billion) and purchase rights for a further 40 (value $1.4billion/£0.9billion). The 88 seat aircraft was originally planned to be delivered between July 2011 and March 2017, with the first two aircraft actually arriving in November 2011. In September 2014, Flybe reached an agreement with Embraer to cancel 20 orders for the E 175 jets, and defer delivery of the other four until further notice. In 2020 Flybe's nine E175 were transferred to various lessors when they collapsed. Six of the aircraft that had been acquired brand new fell into the hands of a Bermudan company by the name Flybe leasing, with one other going to CAW Finance Corp.

The airline placed an order for 14 Embraer 195 aircraft in June 2005, plus options on an additional 12 aircraft, making it the type's worldwide launch customer. This was followed in the same month by the conversion of four existing Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 options into firm orders, bringing its fleet of Q400s to 45 when delivered. Flybe received its first 118 seat Embraer 195 in September 2006, and the aircraft began to replace its existing BAe 146s, completing the fleet rationalisation started in 2003. The E 195s were fitted with a Head up Guidance System (HGS) and configured to offer single class service. In 2018, Flybe completed a review of its future fleet, the Bombardier Q400 would remain its core aircraft; all nine of its E195 aircraft would be withdrawn by 2020 but a number of E175s would be retained for busier routes. On 3 April 2019, Flybe confirmed its intention to withdraw six of its E195s in 2019 and the remainder in 2020; its bases at Cardiff and Doncaster would be closed and these destinations served by Q400s from other bases.

On 1 August 2008 an Embraer 190 200LR from Manchester to Belfast suffered a failure of the No. 1 Air Cycle Machine (ACM), releasing smoke and fumes into the aircraft. A Mayday was declared and an expeditious diversion was carried out. After donning oxygen masks the pilots of Flybe flight BE484 had great difficulty communicating with each other, ATC and cabin crew, because of technical problems with the masks. During the emergency evacuation the right overwing emergency exit door became jammed and unusable. Passengers who evacuated via the left overwing exit were unaware of how to get from the wing down to the ground. Several recommendations were made as a result of this incident. On 21 July 2012 a Flybe aircraft with 47 passengers on board from Newquay to Edinburgh made an emergency landing and was evacuated at Edinburgh after a short circuit in a smoke detector triggered a fire alarm. The Air Accidents Investigation Branch noted pilots initiated a checklist inappropriately for the false alarm, causing depressurisation of the cabin, loss of displays on the copilot side and disconnection of the autopilot. Flybe retrained their pilots and took action to eradicate future false alarms from similar short circuits. On 10 November 2017 a Flybe De Havilland Canada Dash 8 suffered a nose gear failure after takeoff from Belfast City Airport to Inverness Airport, diverting to Belfast International Airport and landing on its nose. The underside of the nose, forward pressure bulkhead, and the nose gear and its doors were all damaged and there were two injuries. The accident was caused by a faulty sensor causing the doors to close onto the gear while it retracted. Flybe inspected their entire fleet. The Air Accident Investigation Branch noted the aircraft and landing gear manufacturers were already working on a revised design prior to the accident. On 11 January 2018 a Flybe Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 flying to Glasgow Airport made an unintentional descent due to an incorrect autopilot setting shortly after departing Belfast City Airport. The plane descended from 1,500 feet to 928 feet over eighteen seconds reaching a maximum rate of descent of 4,300 feet per minute. Flybe revised their simulator training and pre takeoff checklists in response. On 28 February 2019 a Flybe Embraer 195 destined for Alicante aborted takeoff and evacuated on the runway at Exeter Airport after the copilot noticed smoke from an air conditioning vent before fumes began entering the aircraft. The evacuation left a passenger and a member of cabin crew injured. The rapid engine shutdown meant wing flaps were not correctly positioned for evacuation, leaving a large drop for those attempting to use overwing exits, some of whom reentered the cabin and evacuated via slides. The Air Accidents Investigation Branch made recommendations to the European Union Aviation Safety Agency and the Federal Aviation Administration of the United States proposing changes to the design and layout of emergency exits on commercial aircraft. On 14 November 2019 a Flybe DHC 8 400 destined for Heathrow Airport made a precautionary emergency landing at Exeter Airport when, shortly after departing from Cornwall Airport Newquay, the flight crew noticed their handwheels required significant offsets to maintain level flight. The Air Accidents Investigation Branch concluded that a broken left aileron cable was responsible, and also discovered that the right aileron on the aircraft and others in the fleet sometimes failed to respond to handwheel inputs. Although Flybe ceased operations before the probe concluded, airlines and the plane's manufacturer made changes to design and maintenance. The report also criticised the use of irreversible filters, banned in the United States, on the flight data recorder resulting in the loss of relevant data.