| Carrier: | flybe
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| Headquarters: | UK
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| Founded: | 1979
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| Destinations: | 47
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| Bases: | Birmingham, Southampton, Exeter, Belfast, Norwich
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| Owners: | Rosedale Investments (81%), Jim French (9%), Employees (10%)
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| Listed: | Yes
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| Online Booking: | Yes
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| Website: | http://www.flybe.com
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| Fleet | BAe 146 7
Dash-8 Q400 25 +22 on order
Embraer 195 2 +12 on order
| Overview - flybe flybe – finding a niche and making it work flybe is the end-product of the 2002 reinvention of the former British European, formerly the biggest operator at ultra-high end London City Airport. After years of unprofitable operations, made worse by the aftermath of 9/11, the carrier drastically redesigned its business model.
The carrier has tweaked the model in several notable ways, including downgrading London from its portfolio and going with a mixed, turboprop-intensive fleet. Although the market was initially sceptical of its approach – Michael O’Leary once predicted its imminent demise – flybe has shown it knows what it’s doing. With a network that is 83% domestic in nature and does not rely on London airports, flybe has managed to avoid significant competition on its key routes, and the business-centric nature of its new portfolio means that its yields actually improved after becoming an LCC.
Its smaller fleet (the 78-seat Dash-8 is its workhorse) has helped in the yield arena, while also providing significant insulation from the rising cost of fuel. These factors enabled flybe to post an operating profit FY2004/2005, its first in over five years. Management confidence is reflected in their model to have signed on for large incremental fleet increases, adding 24 more Dash-8s, as well as 14 (plus 12 options) 118-seat Embraer 195s, the latter to replace their creaking and thirsty BAe-146s. The company further plans to apply its model to domestic flights between secondary cities in France.
Outlook bright for innovative carrier flybe, whose owners plan a float or buyout for sometime in 2007, have shown that with the right model and the right execution, smaller, niche carriers can thrive in Europe’s increasingly crowded LCC skies.
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