Virgin and Flybe in the tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G...

Glad to hear things are moving forward swiftly.

Any news on weather aircraft are going to have full virgin Atlantic colours or if any of the Flybe aircraft are currently in the pint shop? Funny, as they were suppose to be repaint all their aircraft with their new livery at a rate of about 10 a year.
http://www.travelweekly.co.uk/articles/ ... new-livery

The fleet are to be refurbished to a standard appropriate for VS. I assume mood lighting and possibly leather seats. I can see the repaint being accelerated as each aircraft is refurbished.

A fresh twist as another consortium has come forward. Who are Mesa?

https://news.sky.com/story/arizona-airl ... l-11642267

They operate allot of AA and UA regional flights with the fleet of Embraer’s and CRJ’s in AA and UA livery. If they were to take over Flybe I reckon it would be a similar situation how it is with AA and UA and they will own and operate the planes for virgin and in virgin livery.

they will own and operate the planes for virgin and in virgin livery.

Virgin should have called them then, they put in a competing offer that dwarfed Virgin's.

Flybe has officially snubbed the new proposal and backed the Virgin takeover.

According to Sky the deal will go through officially on Friday!

(The Connect Airways/Virgin deal that is)

Flybe has officially snubbed the new proposal and backed the Virgin takeover.

I smell a lawsuit...

Flybe has officially snubbed the new proposal and backed the Virgin takeover.

Yep: https://otp.investis.com/clients/uk/fly ... id=1234629

Looks like the Mesa proposal was driven by a few of the shareholders who I assume aren't happy with the price being offered by the Virgin proposal, though at the same time it was loaded with conditions which weren't guaranteed to be accepted.

I smell a lawsuit...

To be honest, even once the sale is completed tomorrow, it wouldn't surprise me if the fallout from this between the board and some of the shareholders goes to court.

https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/busin ... 2-8m-deal/

Looks like the deal is completed.

Shareholders still to vote next week. Although they have been left with Virgin/Connect or nothing

Is there any more news about this? I thought flybe was going to be flying under a virgin name at some point, but it all seems to have gone quiet?

From memory the deal was agreed subject to regulatory (I think competition) approval. I think that approval is expected in July.

I think once that is approved the rebranding could take place quite quickly, but if I was Virgin Atlantic I’d take any unpleasant decisions whilst the branding is still “FlyBe” (so the negative goodwill attaches to that brand) then relaunch at a suitable time. My best guess is this won’t happen before Summer 2020.

From memory the deal was agreed subject to regulatory (I think competition) approval. I think that approval is expected in July.

I think once that is approved the rebranding could take place quite quickly, but if I was Virgin Atlantic I’d take any unpleasant decisions whilst the branding is still “FlyBe” (so the negative goodwill attaches to that brand) then relaunch at a suitable time. My best guess is this won’t happen before Summer 2020.

From memory the deal was agreed subject to regulatory (I think competition) approval. I think that approval is expected in July.

I think once that is approved the rebranding could take place quite quickly, but if I was Virgin Atlantic I’d take any unpleasant decisions whilst the branding is still “FlyBe” (so the negative goodwill attaches to that brand) then relaunch at a suitable time. My best guess is this won’t happen before Summer 2020.

They’ve been asking questions via plane talk, about business class on short haul routes so I’m guessing that could be a possible (large) change.

David.

That might indicate they are considering a pretty ambitious plan to turnaround BE / Connect Airways.

It’ll be interesting to see how it pans out when it does.

Mark Anderson (From Virgin Atlantic) appointed CEO of Connect Airways.

Link and selected quotes from MA below:

“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.”

http://www.travelweekly.co.uk/articles/ ... ct-airways

UPDATE: approved.

https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-flybe ... KKCN1U01GQ

UPDATE: approved.

https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-flybe ... KKCN1U01GQ

“ The merged company will now focus on expanding its regional network and franchise business in Britain and Ireland, it said in a statement.”

Edinburgh - Gatwick flights please and thank you

David

Can’t see EDI-LGW myself. No point trying to compete head on with both BA and Easyjet.

Making MAN the domestic hub makes far more sense, together with some key feeder routes into LHR.

There are no Aberdeen Gatwick flights just now, that might work...

Can’t see EDI-LGW myself. No point trying to compete head on with both BA and Easyjet.

Making MAN the domestic hub makes far more sense, together with some key feeder routes into LHR.

BA’s efforts are atrocious- if they aren’t cancelled, there’s only 2 or 3 some days and they are rammed. (And the ones I’ve been on are usually full of people connecting with or from Virgin).

I know Flybe sold their Gatwick slots before the purchase but fingers crossed.

David

I think David you are likely to be disappointed.

My reading of the tea leaves is that VS wish to consolidate London flying at Heathrow, with a relief hub at MAN.

I’m sure they’ll keep the beach routes at LGW for as long as they make money on a p2p basis, but if you want to fly from EDI to (say) MJB, the connection will be offered via MAN (or perhaps AMS/CDG).