Flybe outlines fleet reduction
Flybe is on track to reduce its fleet from 85 aircraft to around 70 aircraft by early 2020.
The airline has issued a statement confirming that it has decided the Bombardier Q400 is the ‘best core aircraft for its current and future needs’ and will remain the ‘backbone’ of the Flybe fleet for the foreseeable future.~
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It will continue to operate a number of Embraer E175 jets for longer or busier routes but is to phase out Embraer E195s by April 2020, handing back all nine existing E195 jets.
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It will retain its remaining Q400 aircraft and, where economic, extend their service lives to ‘save considerable capital expenditure over the next few years’.
A heritage order for four Embraer E175s, due in 2019, will be delivered with new winglet technology to help reduce fuel consumption.
Apart from these, Flybe is not planning any additional new aircraft orders for the foreseeable future.
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Flybe CEO Christine Ourmi-¨res-Widener said: "Flybe’s strategy is to reduce the fleet size to an optimum level and make the business demand-driven rather than capacity-led. Our fleet configuration is an important part of that strategy.
"We examined exhaustively all the options and concluded the Bombardier Q400 is the best core aircraft for us. Its superior economy, speed and quietness is ideal for a regional airline such as ourselves. Together with a number of Embraer E175s, our future fleet will be the optimum required for our specific regional route network."
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Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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