Flybe starting Dublin to London city

urajoke

Four times a day

http://m.travelweekly.co.uk/Article.aspx?cat=news&id=47728

A network of domestic routes from London City airport was today confirmed by Flybe, together with a service to Dublin.

The regional airline is to serve the business centres of Edinburgh, Belfast, Inverness, Exeter and the irish capital from the Docklands airport as part of a five-year deal, in a move which was the subject of industry speculation last month.

Services are scheduled to start on October 27 with tickets going on sale immediately.

Off-peak leisure flights to selected ski, French regional and northern Spanish destinations are also planned. More information about these routes will be announced in the coming weeks.

The expansion follows the airline securing £150 million in additional funding last month as part of a financial turnaround plan under new chief executive Saad Hammad.

Flybe is to deploy five aircraft for the London City services, flying from three of its regional bases, with the airline expecting to carry up to 500,000 passengers a year on the network.

The schedule will include four times daily flights to Edinburgh and Dublin, three times a day flights to Belfast and Exeter and twice daily flights to Inverness.

The carrier says it expects the new routes to improve connectivity from the UK regions and to appeal to City and Canary Wharf-based business travellers, with Edinburgh and Dublin likely to be in particular demand.

Flybe claims the London City services will be “significantly faster” overall than travelling via Heathrow or Gatwick, or by road or rail.

The London City deal follows Flybe launching eight new routes from Birmingham and four routes from Southend with franchise partner Stobart Air.

Hammad described the move as “a significant landmark in the rebirth of Flybe”.

It follows the airline’s withdrawal from Gatwick and the sale of take-off and landing slots to easyJet .

Hammad said: “We are delighted to re-enter the London market at London’s most convenient airport following a rigorous profitability analysis utilising our strict route assessment model.

“Dedicating five growth aircraft initially to these new routes is a major statement of intent and we look forward to building a successful and growing presence there over the coming years.

“Flybe is today already connecting over seven million passengers a year across the UK and Europe. With a major London connection, we reaffirm our place as the UK’s regional airline.”

The airport’s chief executive Declan Collier added: “London City airport is poised for significant growth in the next ten years – growth that will see it achieve 120,000 flight movements per annum, with an associated six million passengers by 2023.

“Today’s announcement is an extremely important step on that journey – Flybe will bring an immediate uplift of up to half a million new passengers to the airport.

“In addition, Flybe’s selection of routes serves to cement further LCY’s status as the business traveller’s airport of choice, underpinned by our ‘location, convenience and speed’ customer propositions.”

crisco10

Any idea on the hardware they will be using? I use Cityjet/Air France to City a lot at the moment and I find the Avro's very comfortable!

MuffinsDa

Most likely Dash-8, with an occasional Embraer thrown in perhaps?

cson

Noticed that CityJet had scaled back service on this route over the past couple of years. Obviously the demand is still there though hence FlyBe picking up the capacity.

LoonyLovegood

Cityjet charge a bomb for it, though. If flybe can bring some competitive pricing to it, that'd be great.

Jamie2k9

CTYIgirl wrote: »

Cityjet charge a bomb for it, though. If flybe can bring some competitive pricing to it, that'd be great.

Compare bot carriers no difference in fares.

Noticed that CityJet had scaled back service on this route over the past couple of years. Obviously the demand is still there though hence FlyBe picking up the capacity

They added a extra daily flight a few weeks ago!

L1011

Running on an Ejet would probably attract away a lot of passengers from the crowded as hell interior on the RJ85s; although Flybes frequent flyer programme is... useless realistically, so that might not get as many regular passengers.

urajoke

Doesn't say what type will be used but I imagine they will start off with the lower capacity dash and use it's economy to make it work and then as others have said sub the jungle jet in when demand calls for it.

Jamie2k9

Operated by Dash 8

Lapin

Had to smile at Sky News describing it as a domestic route and their presenter asking FlyBe chief executive Saad Hammad if it would be cheaper and faster than getting the train.

A Dub in Glasgo

I use the London City to Glasgow route on BA City Flyer. The Embraers are great and the airport is quick to get through. Only downside is the lack BA lounge.

dubdaymo

Out of curiosity just checked fares.

Example: If flying return DUB-LCY-DUB the out fares per class are €36.25, €70.25, €276.25.

But, if you fly only one-way DUB-LCY, the out fare increases to €60, €94, €300.

Jack1985

For an ex-Easy guy now heading the operation, strange direction to take IMO...

billie1b

Lapin wrote: »

Had to smile at Sky News describing it as a domestic route and their presenter asking FlyBe chief executive Saad Hammad if it would be cheaper and faster than getting the train.

Any route between Ireland and UK are classed as Domestic.
Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Channel Islands and Great Britain formed a Common Travel Area making all routes between them domestic

Zonda999

Realistically, how much longer would this spin take in a Dash 8 compared to a RJ85?

urajoke

Zonda999 wrote: »

Realistically, how much longer would this spin take in a Dash 8 compared to a RJ85?

Not that much longer about 10 mins or so.

The dash is fairly nippy except they now cruise at 215kts to save money.

Lapin

billie1b wrote: »

Any route between Ireland and UK are classed as Domestic.
Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Channel Islands and Great Britain formed a Common Travel Area making all routes between them domestic

I'm aware of the common travel area but was always of the impression that crossing international borders render flights between different jurisdictions as international rather than domestic, regardless of what arrangements the countries have with each other in relation to passport control etc.

fr336

Lapin wrote: »

Had to smile at Sky News describing it as a domestic route and their presenter asking FlyBe chief executive Saad Hammad if it would be cheaper and faster than getting the train.

It would no doubt be cheaper and faster than the train!

LXFlyer

billie1b wrote: »

Any route between Ireland and UK are classed as Domestic.
Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Channel Islands and Great Britain formed a Common Travel Area making all routes between them domestic

Correct from a departures perspective, but not quite right with regard to arrivals as they require special arrivals areas to allow passengers pass through customs. The latter is not a feature of domestic flights.

As to the new service, there are scheduled to be 4 return flights per day, Monday-Friday, one on Saturday and two on Sundays, with the aircraft (a Dash 8) to be based in Dublin.

Flight time of 90 minutes.

billie1b

lxflyer wrote: »

Correct from a departures perspective, but not quite right with regard to arrivals as they require special arrivals areas to allow passengers pass through customs. The latter is not a feature of domestic flights.

As to the new service, there are scheduled to be 4 return flights per day, Monday-Friday, one on Saturday and two on Sundays, with the aircraft (a Dash 8) to be based in Dublin.

Flight time of 90 minutes.

Every passenger arriving into Ireland passes through customs

Jack1985

billie1b wrote: »

Every passenger arriving into Ireland passes through customs

True, I don't know about yourselves in DUB but in ORK after arriving from anywhere bar AMS the Garda on the Desk seems to just glance and nod.

LXFlyer

billie1b wrote: »

Every passenger arriving into Ireland passes through customs

I am referring to airports in the UK.


Domestic passengers do not go through customs. International passengers, including those from the ROI do.

Jack1985

Domestic passengers do not go through customs. International passengers, including those from the ROI do.

Everytime I fly to Manchester and its nearly monthly, I never am stopped always allowed walk through with the same flight of passengers from Cork via UK Domestic Channel.

Growler!!!

Jack1985 wrote: »

True, I don't know about yourselves in DUB but in ORK after arriving from anywhere bar AMS the Garda on the Desk seems to just glance and nod.

That's Immigration control, Customs is the last bit before you get to the doors in Cork. Likewise in Dublin.


They are always keeping an eye out :-)

billie1b

lxflyer wrote: »

I am referring to airports in the UK.


Domestic passengers do not go through customs. International passengers, including those from the ROI do.

All arriving pax into airports in the UK from Ireland, Channel Islands, The UK and Northern Ireland are not subject to passport control, although you will need to pass through HM Customs after collecting your baggage.

LXFlyer

billie1b wrote: »

All arriving pax into airports in the UK from Ireland, Channel Islands, The UK and Northern Ireland are not subject to passport control, although you will need to pass through HM Customs after collecting your baggage.

That's not true - arrivals into Heathrow from Belfast do NOT go through customs. I can say that with certainty as I've done it. It is treated as a domestic flight.

Arrivals from Channel Islands, Isle of Man and the Republic of Ireland all do go through customs (although I've never seen any officers in Heathrow) as for customs purposes they are treated as international arrivals.

Which is what I've been trying to say all along.

fr336

I never get stopped at all coming back from Ireland into Luton.

LXFlyer

Just to clarify - I'm not saying people get stopped, but rather there is a customs area that everyone passes through where they COULD get stopped for flights from Ireland, Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.

In Heathrow it's simply passing an office which has a see through mirror window, rather than going through red/blue/green channels.

billie1b

lxflyer wrote: »

That's not true - arrivals into Heathrow from Belfast do NOT go through customs. I can say that with certainty as I've done it. It is treated as a domestic flight.

Arrivals from Channel Islands, Isle of Man and the Republic of Ireland all do go through customs (although I've never seen any officers in Heathrow) as for customs purposes they are treated as international arrivals.

Which is what I've been trying to say all along.

Here is Heathrows guidelines for arrivals, everyone goes through customs.

http://www.heathrowairport.com/heathrow-airport-guide/arriving-passengers/uk-customs

LXFlyer

billie1b wrote: »

Here is Heathrows guidelines for arrivals, everyone goes through customs.

http://www.heathrowairport.com/heathrow-airport-guide/arriving-passengers/uk-customs

They don't.

Domestic passengers (including Belfast) into T1 do not pass customs - I've done it several times and I think I'd notice. I'm not exactly a novice!

Marcusm

I'm sure I've read elsewhere that it will be Dash8s and that Flybe's Embraers are E175/195s which are not certified for LCY (unlike BACF's E170/190s).

Jack1985

The new routes with Flybe out of LCY so far are all being operated by the Q400's, so its not there immediate plan to use them from LCY - Although there will be a second announcement of European expansion with Flybe out of LCY that may see the 175s/195s put to use.