https://flybe.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1592

For me, the key points are as follows;

1. Winter season starts 26 October clearly the ERJ195 starts to leave at that point.

2. They say no changes in schedules at EXE and NWI, but wiki says that ALC ends 26 October. It also shows flights from NWI to ALC ending 25 October and AGP the previous day.

It is also unclear how flight times will be unchanged.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exeter_Ai ... stinations

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwich_A ... stinations

3. They say that flights to CWL and DSA will be operated from the other end. However, nothing about the flights from CWL and DSA to airports which are NOT BE bases. Wiki shows CWL to MXP ending 28 September.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardiff_A ... stinations

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doncaster ... stinations

All in all, not quite what it seems at first glance.

Does this indicate that the Q400 will continue under the new Connect/Virgin Atlantic regime ?

Flybe states nothing will change from the announced schedule which operates in Summer 2019. All the changes will occur from October 2019, including the removal of the E195

All E195 routes will either be downsized to Q400 or be axed - with more of a focus on UK domestic travel.

Manchester will operate E175 as may Birmingham. All other bases seem to be Q400 only.

Cardiff and Doncaster will be away based flying only meaning destinations such as Belfast and Edinburgh will probably stay, whilst Milan and Rennes etc. will go

When are we going to see any Flybe aircraft in the new livery??

Seemingly repaints coming in October.

When will we see exeter gatway?

chunhimlai wrote:

When will we see exeter gatway?

Are you really being serious???

From your past history discussing Exeter Airport on these forums I got a feeling that you are being serious, but as usual you are way off the mark yet again!

The winter schedule is due to be released next week. CWL and DSA will lose a lot of routes as a result of the closure, but it's hoped for CWL that the core routes can be saved with some needing to be operated by a W pattern. EDI and BHD are likely to stay. DUB is between 2-3 daily at the moment and CDG 1-2 daily and both prove popular routes. How they can be incorporated into a schedule with decent timings remains to be seen.

CWL will lose flights to MXP, FCO, VRN, VCE, CMF, LYS, GVA, MUC and FAO (Still offered by FR), ORK*, JER*, CDG*, DUB*
DSA will lose PMI, ALC, AGP, FAO, JER*, CDG*, AMS*, DUB*
(*All within Q400 range but not BE bases)

These are the passenger figures from the CAA 2018 stats. It's interesting to see that CWL carries by far more passengers on these routes than at DSA and the home base EXT but is having the base closed and potential loss of popular routes rather than the base being switched to a Q400 base.
BHD - CWL 70784 DSA 16766 (EXT - 36722)
EDI - CWL 102102 (EXT 48076)
JER - CWL 20095 DSA 33032
DUB - CWL 108275 DSA 33659 (EXT 35587)
CDG - CWL 77676 DSA 36181 (EXT 50016)

I have a feeling there might be more route cuts from the Winter schedule at other bases. With 17 jets in the fleet, the routes that are staying and suitable for Q400 will need to be covered. I can see Virgin/Connect doing as many of the negative changes as soon as possible which will hurt Flybes reputation more and will likely create more negative media spin and then swoop in with a big brand refresh to Virgin with a strong marketing campaign as the saviour of Flybe and a brighter future.

I wonder what will happen with the base in DUS... The big Europe expansion has been blown off and it will probably be shutdown?!

caaardiff wrote:

The winter schedule is due to be released next week. CWL and DSA will lose a lot of routes as a result of the closure, but it's hoped for CWL that the core routes can be saved with some needing to be operated by a W pattern. EDI and BHD are likely to stay. DUB is between 2-3 daily at the moment and CDG 1-2 daily and both prove popular routes. How they can be incorporated into a schedule with decent timings remains to be seen.

CWL will lose flights to MXP, FCO, VRN, VCE, CMF, LYS, GVA, MUC and FAO (Still offered by FR), ORK*, JER*, CDG*, DUB*
DSA will lose PMI, ALC, AGP, FAO, JER*, CDG*, AMS*, DUB*
(*All within Q400 range but not BE bases)

These are the passenger figures from the CAA 2018 stats. It's interesting to see that CWL carries by far more passengers on these routes than at DSA and the home base EXT but is having the base closed and potential loss of popular routes rather than the base being switched to a Q400 base.
BHD - CWL 70784 DSA 16766 (EXT - 36722)
EDI - CWL 102102 (EXT 48076)
JER - CWL 20095 DSA 33032
DUB - CWL 108275 DSA 33659 (EXT 35587)
CDG - CWL 77676 DSA 36181 (EXT 50016)

I have a feeling there might be more route cuts from the Winter schedule at other bases. With 17 jets in the fleet, the routes that are staying and suitable for Q400 will need to be covered. I can see Virgin/Connect doing as many of the negative changes as soon as possible which will hurt Flybes reputation more and will likely create more negative media spin and then swoop in with a big brand refresh to Virgin with a strong marketing campaign as the saviour of Flybe and a brighter future.

Do you think Virgin/Flybe partners could look at operating routes which are seen to be successful? For instance, could Air France and KLM use their Bombardier CRJ (Air France) or Embraer 175 (KLM) to launch Paris Charles de Gaulle and Amsterdam to these sort of places, freeing Flybe aircraft. Also, could you see Blue Islands keeping Jersey and as Stobart (part of Connect Airways consortium) operates Aer Lingus Regional - could they maintain Dublin/Cork links?

If they don't ease up on the 50 quid oversized luggage charges for luggage which isn't oversized they'll have no customers left by the time these changes come.

KLM already operate 3x daily CWL-AMS and I think DSA was tried by KL but didn't last long.
CDG with AF is certainly a possibility as they are also AF codeshares so they would have an idea of how the routes perform from their own sales, alongside BE's point to point sales. For CWL, it's possible if GLA is kept they could operate GLA-CWL-CDG-CWL-GLA, however hopefully as separate flights rather than a split load transfer flight like they did before (which was an operational disaster)
Blue Islands are unlikely to support CWL-JER due to their operation at BRS.
EI pulled off CWL-DUB before BE came in on it, as they were planning on reducing it from I think 3x daily to 2x daily, possible 1x daily. FR could start DUB as the relationship between CWL and FR seems to be doing well, but it's likely that will only be 1x daily with no US connections that EI could provide.

SeanM1997 wrote:

Do you think Virgin/Flybe partners could look at operating routes which are seen to be successful? For instance, could Air France and KLM use their Bombardier CRJ (Air France) or Embraer 175 (KLM) to launch Paris Charles de Gaulle and Amsterdam to these sort of places, freeing Flybe aircraft. Also, could you see Blue Islands keeping Jersey and as Stobart (part of Connect Airways consortium) operates Aer Lingus Regional - could they maintain Dublin/Cork links?

KLM (cityhopper) or Air France (hop!) could launch routes as FlyBE drops Paris/Amsterdam, as unlike FlyBE, KL and AF codes help feed the CDG and AMS hubs, and have strong point of sales both at UK and the continent.

As much as Stobart Air is part of Connect airways, I doubt they have spare frames (ATRs) at DUB to help from the Irish side of the routes.

I looked at DSA-JER-DSA for early October this year and they’ve reduced the service. The return date (7th October) only gave options which I think were via SOU & BHD giving a journey time of 7+ hours. People won’t bother with that!

Also I’ve said it before but the Q400’s are not reliable and alot of people don’t like them.

Exeter is going to be an interesting one now RYR are in town, they've already picked up the dropped Alicante route, so I can see Flybe leaving the longer international routes to RYR and concentrating on Domestic and Feeds for VIR/DAL/AFR/KLM

DUS is Q400. Seems safe it will stay.

Theoretically FR could take over some of the routes and fly to BGY,CIA,VRN,TSF 2w..But the jump from 122 to 189pax is big,so i dont know how sustainable these routes would be with such an a/c

Theoretically FR could take over some of the routes and fly to BGY,CIA,VRN,TSF 2w..But the jump from 122 to 189pax is big,so i dont know how sustainable these routes would be with such an a/c..Otherwise CWL pax will have to make do with flights from BRS

UAL777UK wrote:

When are we going to see any Flybe aircraft in the new livery??

Even more important than that: FlyBE is dropping Avios (the platform and obviously the currency issued by AGL) as FF Scheme next Wednesday. And nothing has been announced so far.

https://www.flybe.com/avios

It's not the end of the world, but it would be weird to fly an airline the size of BE (and franchises) and not get any kind of points/status.
Even more bizarre that they have not announced a VS FlyingClub partnership. If they are to become a Virgin Atlantic (operated by Connect/FlyBE) kind of regional franchise operation, that's the FF scheme they are going to adopt anyway sooner than later...

leghorn wrote:

If they don't ease up on the 50 quid oversized luggage charges for luggage which isn't oversized they'll have no customers left by the time these changes come.

Avoiding the £50 charge is really easy....you just read the terms and conditions that you accept when buying the ticket, then make sure your bag isn't bigger than the published cabin bag allowance. Now what could be easier than that?

No Virgin colors yet?

sk736 wrote:

leghorn wrote:

If they don't ease up on the 50 quid oversized luggage charges for luggage which isn't oversized they'll have no customers left by the time these changes come.

Avoiding the £50 charge is really easy....you just read the terms and conditions that you accept when buying the ticket, then make sure your bag isn't bigger than the published cabin bag allowance. Now what could be easier than that?

I've seen some twitter posts where people have put measuring tapes up to their baggage and they comply with the baggage regulations but don't fit in the sizing crates. There are two different sizing crates in circulation around the network. One is bigger than the other.

sk736 wrote:

leghorn wrote:

If they don't ease up on the 50 quid oversized luggage charges for luggage which isn't oversized they'll have no customers left by the time these changes come.

Avoiding the £50 charge is really easy....you just read the terms and conditions that you accept when buying the ticket, then make sure your bag isn't bigger than the published cabin bag allowance. Now what could be easier than that?

I've seen some twitter posts where people have put measuring tapes up to their baggage and they comply with the baggage regulations but don't fit in the sizing crates. There are two different sizing crates in circulation around the network. One is bigger than the other.
keyword search in twitter "flybe measuring tape" or "flybe £50" or "flybe luggage"
example: https://twitter.com/Nicsy1992/status/11 ... 1687309312

UAL777UK wrote:

When are we going to see any Flybe aircraft in the new livery??

I believe the new 'new' colour scheme has been shelved. Seems foolish to have yet another expensive rebranding when the darker purple 'F1' colours have become so widespread and familiar. Some of the Q400's have yet to be painted in that. As G-JECP was the aircraft that had the Amsterdam gear failure it would have needed a repaint anyway. I'm not a fan of the light purple. Personally, I think some period of stability is required for the dust to settle. No drastic base or route changes, other than the downsizing. Concentrate on core stuff, look after the employees and give everyone a breather......and trim the fat.

robcornwall wrote:

UAL777UK wrote:

When are we going to see any Flybe aircraft in the new livery??

I believe the new 'new' colour scheme has been shelved. Seems foolish to have yet another expensive rebranding when the darker purple 'F1' colours have become so widespread and familiar. Some of the Q400's have yet to be painted in that. As G-JECP was the aircraft that had the Amsterdam gear failure it would have needed a repaint anyway. I'm not a fan of the light purple. Personally, I think some period of stability is required for the dust to settle. No drastic base or route changes, other than the downsizing. Concentrate on core stuff, look after the employees and give everyone a breather......and trim the fat.

Do you honestly think that Flybe in it's current form and the current livery will be around in a years time?

By this time next year I'm sure that the airline will have totally rebranded under the Virgin umbrella, new name, probably Virgin Connect, new livery probably Virgin, cutbacks to the current route network, many possibilities but I don't think that Flybe as we know it has a long term future.

It will be all red tails within a few years I can assure you

Cunard wrote:

robcornwall wrote:

UAL777UK wrote:

When are we going to see any Flybe aircraft in the new livery??

I believe the new 'new' colour scheme has been shelved. Seems foolish to have yet another expensive rebranding when the darker purple 'F1' colours have become so widespread and familiar. Some of the Q400's have yet to be painted in that. As G-JECP was the aircraft that had the Amsterdam gear failure it would have needed a repaint anyway. I'm not a fan of the light purple. Personally, I think some period of stability is required for the dust to settle. No drastic base or route changes, other than the downsizing. Concentrate on core stuff, look after the employees and give everyone a breather......and trim the fat.

Do you honestly think that Flybe in it's current form and the current livery will be around in a years time?

By this time next year I'm sure that the airline will have totally rebranded under the Virgin umbrella, new name, probably Virgin Connect, new livery probably Virgin, cutbacks to the current route network, many possibilities but I don't think that Flybe as we know it has a long term future.

It will be all red tails within a few years I can assure you

I think what he meant was that the so far one off 'new' livery as seen on G-JECP (mainly white with purple tail) won't be getting put on any more aircraft as opposed to the purple livery marching on under the new regime. Connect have already confirmed the Virgin brand will be applied and it will begin later this year apparently.

Cunard - maybe, maybe not.
JannEejit - thank you.

leghorn wrote:

sk736 wrote:

leghorn wrote:

If they don't ease up on the 50 quid oversized luggage charges for luggage which isn't oversized they'll have no customers left by the time these changes come.

Avoiding the £50 charge is really easy....you just read the terms and conditions that you accept when buying the ticket, then make sure your bag isn't bigger than the published cabin bag allowance. Now what could be easier than that?

I've seen some twitter posts where people have put measuring tapes up to their baggage and they comply with the baggage regulations but don't fit in the sizing crates. There are two different sizing crates in circulation around the network. One is bigger than the other.
keyword search in twitter "flybe measuring tape" or "flybe £50" or "flybe luggage"
example: https://twitter.com/Nicsy1992/status/11 ... 1687309312

Following the many complaints, trading standards did a thorough investigation on the baggage sizers and all of them, including the smaller metal sizers were at the correct advertised dimensions. The metal sizers were about 5mm bigger than advertised and the cardboard sizers a bit more.

The problem with using 2 types of sizer is that some airports do not permit metal sizers at the gate. Pretty poor move for Flybe to continue to use 2 sizes though, when they could have simply gone 'all cardboard' at all gates. The airline is mismanaged and overmanaged

Do you not agree that perception is more harmful to reputation and Brand than anything else.
They are developing a reputation for being a sharp-practice vulture mini Ryanair with legacy prices but no punctuality and run unreliable toy-sized planes. Truth or not that is how they are being perceived these days.

Cunard wrote:

robcornwall wrote:

UAL777UK wrote:

When are we going to see any Flybe aircraft in the new livery??

I believe the new 'new' colour scheme has been shelved. Seems foolish to have yet another expensive rebranding when the darker purple 'F1' colours have become so widespread and familiar. Some of the Q400's have yet to be painted in that. As G-JECP was the aircraft that had the Amsterdam gear failure it would have needed a repaint anyway. I'm not a fan of the light purple. Personally, I think some period of stability is required for the dust to settle. No drastic base or route changes, other than the downsizing. Concentrate on core stuff, look after the employees and give everyone a breather......and trim the fat.

Do you honestly think that Flybe in it's current form and the current livery will be around in a years time?

By this time next year I'm sure that the airline will have totally rebranded under the Virgin umbrella, new name, probably Virgin Connect, new livery probably Virgin, cutbacks to the current route network, many possibilities but I don't think that Flybe as we know it has a long term future.

It will be all red tails within a few years I can assure you

Well, The Q400s will probably be still under the FlyBE AOC. The E-jets will probably find a better home at Stobart Air (with several other Stobart's E-jets) and wetleasing the capacity to FlyBE (and others) under ACMI contracts were needed.

About the purple.... Isn't purple, along with red, the main colours of the Virgin branding?. I guess they could keep the purple and add some "Virgin connect" red stickers and get away with it until a new paint job is due

I hope it improves flybe's operations. i have had so many flights been cancelled with them, hopefully virgin can sort it out!

leghorn wrote:

Do you not agree that perception is more harmful to reputation and Brand than anything else.
They are developing a reputation for being a sharp-practice vulture mini Ryanair with legacy prices but no punctuality and run unreliable toy-sized planes. Truth or not that is how they are being perceived these days.

That's coming from long ago. I remember them banning you board your own food of drinks claiming it was risky. It was more of a hazard than boarding with a knife... That was Jim French's era

https://www.airliners.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=347599
https://www.airliners.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=459229

Flybe has to remain operationally independent of the Connect Airways consortium until regulatory approval for the takeover is granted:

In February 2019 Connect Airways acquired Flybe Limited (Flybe’s main trading company, including Flybe Aviation Services Limited) and Flybe.com Limited for consideration of £2.8m. As a part of the deal, the shareholders of Connect Airways (“the Consortium”) have committed to providing funding to Flybe Limited of up to £135m, of which the Virgin Atlantic Group has committed up to £41m. The committed funding from the Consortium to Flybe is secured on certain fleet assets of Flybe Limited. The deal is subject to regulatory approval, and therefore the Consortium will only obtain joint control of Flybe Limited after such approval has been granted; this is the point at which the Group will be able to be able to exercise joint control of the entity’s financial and operating policies and begin to consolidate its relevant share of earnings of Flybe Limited under the equity method.

https://www.ttgmedia.com/news/flybe-bos ... july-18150
C OW is "stepping down".
I have my view on what constitutes "stepping down".

leghorn wrote:

https://www.ttgmedia.com/news/flybe-boss-christine-ourmieres-widener-to-stand-down-in-july-18150
C OW is "stepping down".
I have my view on what constitutes "stepping down".

I'm sure flybe staff will be in tears over this news.

Virgin Atlantic’s Mark Anderson to lead Flybe overhaul, with the airline set to be transformed under the Virgin banner.

Link to article, key points and quotes below.

——————

Connect, which comprises Virgin Atlantic, Flybe franchise partner Stobart Group and private equity investor Cyrus Capital, is awaiting clearance from EU competition authorities to complete its £2.8 million acquisition of the struggling regional carrier.

Flybe continues to operate separately from Virgin Atlantic, but is expected to be rebranded Virgin “something” in the future and provide regional feed to the airline’s long-haul hubs.

Anderson joins Connect as chief executive from his current role as executive vice-president – customer at Virgin. Since February 2017 he has been responsible for leading and executing the airline’s customer experience strategy.

Prior to his current role at Virgin, Anderson was senior vice-president and managing director of Virgin Holidays.
 


Lucien Farrell, Connect Airways chair, said: “Mark has a proven record of leadership, strategy and commercial delivery. I look forward to working closely with him and supporting the Connect Airways team as they set out to continue growing the business while transforming the experience customers can expect from regional flying in the UK.”

Shai Weiss, Virgin Atlantic chief executive, added: “As the team prepares to launch under a Virgin brand, Mark’s experience and insights from his time at Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Holidays will be invaluable. With his absolute focus on customers and business performance, I can think of no better leader to ensure Connect Airways is successful in achieving its ambitions.”

Connect is jointly owned by Virgin (30%), Stobart Group (30%) and Cyrus Capital (40%) and expects its deal for Flybe to be cleared by the EU later this year.

If successful, the group has pledged to establish and invest in Flybe’s long-term future by leveraging the financial backing and expertise available to the consortium partners.

Other objectives include linking airports around the UK with Virgin Atlantic’s long-haul network, with a particular focus on connectivity at Manchester and Heathrow airports; maintaining Stobart Air’s strength as a leading franchise-flying business; and offering an enhanced customer experience with Flybe in line with what is customary from Virgin brands.

“It’s a real privilege and honour for me to take on the leadership of Connect Airways at this exciting time,” said Anderson. “We are focused on growing the airline while expanding our franchise business in Dublin, redefining what customers can expect from regional flying in the UK.
 
“We have all the building blocks in place: Flybe’s heritage and expertise in running Europe’s largest regional airline; the operational excellence and strength of Stobart Air; and in the near future, the magic of the Virgin brand. I can’t wait to get started with the team.”


https://www.ttgmedia.com/news/news/virg ... haul-18331

FlyBE dropped by SAS
https://www.pprune.org/airlines-airport ... a-108.html
http://www.austrianaviation.net/detail/ ... mit-flybe/ (german)

I wonder how quickly the Flybe brand will disappear. I know Flybe have three liveries at the moment, and seemed in no hurry to paint aircraft, but at least they were for the same brand. I cant imagine Virgin would want the Flybe brand hanging around. After all, they are a very brand conscious business.

Their shenanigans with £50 fee at the gate for (barely) oversized bags tells me that they don't give too hoots about tarnishing the FlyBE brand in the long term.
FlyBE doesn't have many passengers but the amount of reports of this on Twitter tells me they are collecting hundreds extra every flight with no quarter given.

BritishB747 wrote:

I wonder how quickly the Flybe brand will disappear. I know Flybe have three liveries at the moment, and seemed in no hurry to paint aircraft, but at least they were for the same brand. I cant imagine Virgin would want the Flybe brand hanging around. After all, they are a very brand conscious business.

How quickly remains to be seen, but I’m certain the airline will be known as Virgin “Something”. What I do think is whatever dirty laundry they have to Air will be aired before a rebrand.

My best guess is a summer 2020 rebrand but who knows.

DobboDobbo wrote:

BritishB747 wrote:

I wonder how quickly the Flybe brand will disappear. I know Flybe have three liveries at the moment, and seemed in no hurry to paint aircraft, but at least they were for the same brand. I cant imagine Virgin would want the Flybe brand hanging around. After all, they are a very brand conscious business.

How quickly remains to be seen, but I’m certain the airline will be known as Virgin “Something”. What I do think is whatever dirty laundry they have to Air will be aired before a rebrand.

My best guess is a summer 2020 rebrand but who knows.

Agreed, they must be raking it in from these hand baggage charges. Lots of twitter complaints and lost of disgruntled passengers complaining about inconsistency.
I don't even know how many flights a day Flybe operate, but say just 1 bag gets charged per flight of over 150 flights a day. That's £7.5k per day = £1.3m in just 6 months.
Whilst under the Flybe brand, rinse your passengers. Then Virgin swoop in, save the day, become all customer focused and either relax or completely remove gate charges. Can Connect afford to lose the ancillary revenue being taken though?

As the Winter timetable is already out and the dust hasn't even dropped yet, Summer 2020 seems likely, giving time to completely revamp the timetable and start looking at a change of policies and procedures to match VS.

BritishB747 wrote:

I wonder how quickly the Flybe brand will disappear. I know Flybe have three liveries at the moment, and seemed in no hurry to paint aircraft, but at least they were for the same brand. I cant imagine Virgin would want the Flybe brand hanging around. After all, they are a very brand conscious business.

There's 4 liveries about at the moment -

- G-JECP in the 'new' white with Purple tail.



- the predominantly purple livery (almost exclusively on the Q400 fleet, with 1 E195 in the 'welcome to Yorkshire' special variant of that)



- the white livery (the rest of the Embraer fleet, and a fair few of the Q400)



- G-ECOI and G-ECOK which were leased to Brussels Airlines between 2012 and 2017 still have basic Brussels Airlines colours with small 'operated by flybe' stickers.



(ok, that's not really a flybe livery, but they're used all over the network)

VS is a long haul airline. Flybe does (sometimes very) short haul
I'm not sure it makes a lot of sense to apply policies that are centred around a long haul product to a short haul product. BA seem to clearly differentiate between the 2 products and while it might make Virgin Connect look nice and fluffy in the press, it would be commercial suicide to mix-and-match the two when rivals, including Easyjet and Ryanair, adopt a policy of low base fare but costly ancillaries. That said, pax taking short haul that connects to VS long haul will need to get more forgiving T&Cs

Flybe's problem is that they have been trying to compete with LCCs but were too forgiving in the last few years of oversized bags to the detriment of their finances

davidjohnson6 wrote:

VS is a long haul airline. Flybe does (sometimes very) short haul
I'm not sure it makes a lot of sense to apply policies that are centred around a long haul product to a short haul product. BA seem to clearly differentiate between the 2 products and while it might make Virgin Connect look nice and fluffy in the press, it would be commercial suicide to mix-and-match the two when rivals, including Easyjet and Ryanair, adopt a policy of low base fare but costly ancillaries

Flybe's problem is that they have been trying to compete with LCCs but were too forgiving in the last few years of oversized bags to the detriment of their finances

Agreed.

That is the challenge for Connect. The objective to feed VS long haul at MAN and LHR is a clear objective.

The extent to which they focus on P2P routes (whether in the UK and Ireland or Europe) and how much mix and match there is between feed and P2P is an open question.

I don’t think they can compete like for like with the big LCCs, but they can offer something slightly different and capturing that is (IMO) a key factor in making this a success (for which they need to leverage the relationship with VS/DL/AF/KL for example when purchasing aircraft).

FR and EZY offer upgraded products in the form of their "Plus" products. This gives dedicated check-in (EZY), allocated seating, priority boarding, checked baggage and additional hand luggage, similar to Flybes current "All in" product. It could be that VS connecting customers automatically get these perks included so as to not differentiate and confuse the process too much but is still available to purchase for P2P customers.
The on board service for such a short flight could be a very light snack handed out by the crew, who should be able to access information on who is a VS connecting customer.
The issue to decide upon is hand luggage. EI Regional only allows their dimensions even for connecting flights, which is smaller to the sizes of EI Mainline hand luggage. KL used to take larger hand luggage off passengers on the Fokkers, and return it to them at the aircraft steps. It may be a better process for VS connecting passengers that if it doesn't meet BE's hand luggage sizes but meets VS sizes, it's placed as DAA baggage free of charge and returned on arrival at destination at the aircraft side.

As far as a prospective livery goes, I don't expect a whole lot more than an all white fuselage with a red tail (similar to the new Flybe minimal purple Q400) and thin billboard lettering saying 'Virgin Connect' in a style not dissimilar to the current 'Virgin Atlantic'.

I wonder if they will place a business product on the aircraft? If so do they go for a European model (Normal seat with no one sitting next to you) or a proper business seat like with Virgin Australia.
With regards to their fleet I think they will try and get an all jet fleet perhaps. There are not many Embraer E2 Jet orders on the books, they could get a very good deal for them making them more appealing then a DASH or A220.

BritishB747 wrote:

I wonder how quickly the Flybe brand will disappear. I know Flybe have three liveries at the moment, and seemed in no hurry to paint aircraft, but at least they were for the same brand. I cant imagine Virgin would want the Flybe brand hanging around. After all, they are a very brand conscious business.

You say that but Virgin themselves have a motley collection of liveries floating about.

Having said that I absolutely expect to see a load of red tailed Q400s at MAN sooner rather than later.

To be fair to Flybe, the overhead bins on the Q400s are a tight fit if your bag IS just 20cm thick, wondering how many delays they’ve had with passengers trying to stuff their backpacks etc in.


One of the most frustrating things flying BA is standing in line to board and watching everyone rip off their yellow (under seat baggage) labels off, so they can put it in the over head bins, then having to select passengers with one bag to put it in the hold!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

TurnaroudUK wrote:

I wonder if they will place a business product on the aircraft? If so do they go for a European model (Normal seat with no one sitting next to you) or a proper business seat like with Virgin Australia.
With regards to their fleet I think they will try and get an all jet fleet perhaps. There are not many Embraer E2 Jet orders on the books, they could get a very good deal for them making them more appealing then a DASH or A220.

If they stick with Flybe’s current premise of domestic and short haul links then they won’t rush to go all jet. They are actually trying to get rid of jets.

Secondly, there is no way they will offer a proper business class seat. They mainly operate 1hr flights. There is no need.