Flybe has taken the slots used by Virgin’s failed venture and will offer up to 18 services a day to Edinburgh and 10 to Aberdeen from Heathrow’s Terminal 2. The new routes will compete against British Airways, which currently has a monopoly on Heathrow-Scotland routes. Flybe’s use of T2 at Heathrow will mainly benefit Star Alliance members that operate from the terminal.
One potential drawback for London passengers will be the later departure times of the first flights from the capital – Flybe will use aircraft based in Scotland, meaning early arrivals at Heathrow, but no departures to Edinburgh until 08.45 and not until 09.45 to Aberdeen.
Flybe stressed that it had not paid for the Heathrow slots, as these are ‘remedy’ slots required by the European Commission to ensure competition against BA. The carrier can hope that its use of Q400 propeller aircraft will make the routes economical, as Virgin flew 180-seat jets with very low load factors.
Flybe’s executive chairman Simon Laffin said: “We are delighted to announce our first flights to London Heathrow, significantly enhancing our UK domestic route network and offering even better links between Scotland and London.
“The new routes to Heathrow complement the existing ones we operate to London City, and will benefit our business customers and customers in Scotland who want to connect with our long haul codeshare partners.”
Flybe has also announced a replacement for chief executive Saad Hammad, who stepped down in October.
Former Cityjet chief executive Christine Ourmieres-Widener takes over on January 16.
She said: “I am very excited to be joining Flybe and being able to bring my industry experience and passion to the business. I look forward to working with the board and the entire team to continue Flybe’s progression to becoming a more customer-focused business, aided by the greater control the airline now has over its future fleet size. As Europe’s largest regional airline, Flybe is already in a strong position and I believe can deliver significantly more over the coming years.”
