Flybe

Flybe was a British airline based in Exeter, England. Until its sale to Connect Airways in 2019, it was the largest independent regional airline in Europe. 

The airline operated scheduled services on 21 routes from Belfast City, Birmingham and Heathrow to airports across the UK and to Amsterdam and Geneva. Flybe once provided more than half of UK domestic flights outside London.

Flybe formerly had codeshares with the following airlines under the 'One Stop to the World' programme: Aer Lingus, Air France, Air India, Alitalia, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Emirates, Etihad Airways, Finnair, Loganair, Singapore Airlines, United Airlines, Virgin Atlantic.

Flybe previously announced it would cease trading in March 2020, citing the coronavirus pandemic as a contributory factor.

The company was rescued after being bought by Thyme Opco, a firm linked to the US hedge fund Cyrus Capital and in April 2021, the new company renamed itself Flybe Limited, obtained an operating licence, route licences and airport slots. 

In November 2021, the airline announced that it had picked Birmingham Airport as its new base, with operations scheduled to begin in early 2022 to "key regions across the UK and EU".

On 16 March 2022, Flybe announced that it would start ticket sales the following week, and that Belfast would be the airline's second operating base.

 The airline resumed operations in April 2022 with a plan to run up to 530 flights a week across 23 routes.

The company slogan was "Smile and go the extra mile."

On 22 March the company's website opened for bookings and the first flight took place on 13 April 2022.

After relaunching, Flybe operated a fleet of de Havilland Canada Dash 8 Q400. There were 7 in total but there were to expand to over 30 aircraft. There were plans for Nordic Aviation Capital to lease at least 12 aircraft to Flybe and a further 5 coming from Aergo Capital.

 The relaunched airline ceased trading on 28 January 2023.