Last July, the European Union gave the green light to the takeover of the British regional airline Flybe by a consortium called "Connect Airways including Stobart Group (40% of the capital), Cyrus Capital (30%) and Virgin Atlantic Ltd (30%). From January 2020Flybe is out and Virgin Connect is in. The aircraft liveries will feature the flamboyant red of Richard Branson's company in place of the blue/purple colours of Flybe. A new booking site will be opened, although the flybe.com booking site will continue to operate alongside the new one. The move from Flybe to Virgin Connect is an opportunity to assert the identity of the consortium and to use a brand, Virgin, which is already well known to the British and European public.
The new CEO of Connect Airways, Mark Anderson, is a former Managing Director of Virgin Holidays and Head of Customer Services at Virgin Atlantic. He is keen to move away from the low-cost/hybrid model of Flybe and reposition Virgin Connect in the regional market by offering an excellent customer experience and a quality of service similar to that which already exists on the other Virgin airlines.
Flybe has changed ownership at a time when the company, which is accumulating losses, is restructuring its network. This winter, it is closing its bases in Cardiff and Doncaster - the latter being linked to Paris CDG, among other airports.
The transformation into Virgin Connect will also enable synergies with the long-haul routes of Virgin Atlantic. The latter's management has already stated that the acquisition will enable it to offer " more choice for customers through improved connectivity between the UK's regional airports and Virgin Atlantic's extensive long-haul network, particularly at London Heathrow and Manchester" . The same will apply to the routes operated by Flybe in France on Lyon, Paris CDG, Rennes and Toulon plus a dozen seasonal routes to France.
From Paris CDGFlybe serves eight British cities including Aberdeen, Birmingham, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Manchester and Newcastle. This winter, the carrier is suspending its Lyon-Birmingham, Paris-Doncaster/Sheffield and Toulouse-Manchester routes in France. Stobart Air is also suspending its Caen-London Southend route for a month - from early January to early February.
