Flybe returns with Birmingham, Belfast and Heathrow operation

Two years after closing down, with the loss of more than 2,000 jobs, Flybe is set to start flying next month – beginning with four aircraft and seven routes.

The resurrected carrier will have its headquarters in Birmingham but its main base at Belfast City.

Flybe will also restore the London Heathrow-Leeds Bradford link, which British Airways abandoned as the coronavirus pandemic took hold in 2020. It plans to link the two cities up to three times daily.

Flybe intends to use its propeller planes in competition with existing jet services connecting Heathrow with Belfast City and Amsterdam. It will fly only twice daily on each link, far fewer than BA.

Amsterdam will also be connected with Belfast City, Birmingham and East Midlands from late April.

In the summer the carrier will launch French regional services: from Birmingham and Southampton to Avignon, from Birmingham to Brest in Brittany and from Southampton to Toulon Hyères. The route network will increase to 23 city pairs.

The company says: “We are on a journey as a new company, taking the much-loved Flybe brand into a new era.

“Our aim: to create the best regional airline in Europe.

“Putting our customers and colleagues at the heart of everything we do, our motto is ‘smile and go the extra mile’.

“We are in the business of serving the demand for faster and easier connections in a friendly, responsible, and sustainable way.”

But observers say there is little room left for what is effectively a new, small regional player – with all the viable routes already picked up by airlines such as Loganair, Eastern Airways, Aer Lingus, British Airways and easyJet.

The airline schedule analyst Sean Moulton said: “Of Flybe’s 12 routes planned from Belfast City, 11 will have direct or indirect competition across the two Belfast airports.

“Only Belfast City to East Midlands is completely unserved.”

The original Flybe collapsed in 2020 after investors hoping to rescue the airline pumped in £100m without success.

The revived carrier was originally planning to begin services in “early 2022”. Instead, it will miss the busy Easter holiday.

Flybe planned route network, start dates and maximum frequency