Flybe returns with £20 flight from Birmingham to Belfast

Since the collapse of the original carrier, other airlines have moved in to many of its previous routes

Now arriving: Flybe’s inaugural flight from Birmingham to Belfast City (Sean Moulton)

Two years after Flybe collapsed with the loss of more than 2,000 jobs, the regional airline has returned.

Flybe flight BE404 took off from Birmingham just after 9am, and touched down 51 minutes later after a 226-mile flight.

In a special promotion, many seats on board were sold for as little as £19.99 one-way.

The chief executive of the revived airline, Dave Pflieger, said: “Today is a big day for everyone at Flybe.

“Over the coming weeks and months our flight schedule will further ramp up as we take delivery of additional aircraft and serve other new destinations from Birmingham including Amsterdam, Avignon, Brest, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen.”

Birmingham airport’s chief executive, Nick Barton, added: “I am thrilled to see Flybe back again. With Covid travel restrictions lifted and many thousands of Britons taking to the skies once more, I am confident we’ll see strong demand for Flybe’s core UK, Dutch and French routes.”

The original Flybe, the-then largest regional airline in the UK, failed. A rescue consortium led by Virgin Atlantic, had vainly pumped in £100m and concluded there was no hope of turning the airline around and pulled the plug.

In October 2020, when the the coronavirus pandemic was paralysing the world, another partner in the failed rescue consortium, Cyrus Capital, bought the brand from the receiver.

Its HQ is at Birmingham airport, which will also be a hub for Flybe. There is a second base at Belfast City airport, which will actually have the biggest route network.

The UK airline schedule analyst Sean Moulton took the first flight. He said: “A lively start for Flybe with their executives on board. The aircraft was as expected, a little bumpy but clean – and on board service of complimentary light refreshments was a nice surprise.

“Will Flybe be able to compete on price whilst offering an enhanced customer experience, all whilst trying to make a profit? We shall wait to see.”

Since the collapse of the original Flybe, airlines including Loganair, Eastern Airways, easyJet, British Airways and Aer Lingus Regional have moved in to many routes previously served by the failed carrier.