Flybe to set up at Newcastle Airport

Jan 31 2008 by Dan Warburton, The Journal

A HUGE airline investment is set to create more than 1,000 jobs as Europe’s largest regional carrier takes up base at Newcastle Airport.

Flybe has saved Newcastle’s route to London Gatwick after buying landing slots.

And now the airline is launching three new daily flights from Newcastle to Gatwick starting on March 30.

The Gatwick landing slots are currently owned by Jet2, and Flybe says it bought them to prevent Newcastle losing its services.

Flybe’s chief commercial officer Mike Rutter said: “We purchased these Gatwick slots in the teeth of opposition from other carriers who wanted to use them to serve European destinations, not Newcastle.

“Jet2 decided to end the routes and the flights could have gone elsewhere.

“But we worked very hard with Newcastle Airport to secure the flights and therefore it maintains the link with the capital.

“The establishment of a base at Newcastle will itself create 125 jobs and when we hit our passenger target of one million in the next two years, that will support 1,000 jobs.

“It will mean the creation of highly skilled jobs like pilots, cabin crew and engineering staff.

“And then there will be knock-on jobs in support services, ground handling and so on.”

Flybe will also be offering direct flights to Aberdeen six days a week and a weekly summer service to Rennes in France.

And it is also adding a number of services to cities on the continent including Stuttgart and Frankfurt in Germany, and destinations across Scandinavia due to be announced in the next 18 months.

The investment will open up new links to European cities and will be a gateway for tourists coming into the region.

Mr Rutter said: “I believe the Northumberland coast was one of the top places to visit in the Lonely Planet handbooks.

“And this new development opens up a new tourist market with people wanting to visit from Germany and France, and our airline has the quality to provide a service to attract these people.

“It is a massive boost to the economy of the North-East and also provides safeguards for tourism and inward investment and the move to create an HQ in Newcastle creates jobs.”

Flybe will also be bringing in three to four new £29m aircraft to support the new investment, costing a combined total of up to £116m.

The fleet is made up of Embraer 195 and Bombardier Q400 aircraft, with the latter set to be the one that runs the London Gatwick route.

And the aircraft are designed to reduce the carbon footprint of the journey, with airport chiefs estimating that the environmental damage caused by the service will be halved by the new services.

It emits 1,044kg of CO2 on a 500km sector, compared to 2,002kg on a Boeing 737 – a difference of 47.8%.

Dave Laws, chief executive of Newcastle Airport, said: “We welcome Flybe’s commitment to environmental mitigation, with their new fuel efficient aircraft.

“Environmental management is at the top of our agenda at Newcastle and we’re delighted that the airline’s operation here will help support our efforts to reduce carbon emissions.”

Jet2 will cease flying between Newcastle and London Gatwick on March 29 and all passengers booked on this service from March 30 can transfer to Flybe at no additional cost.