Help - have just booked an Inghamsn holiday and we're scheduled to fly with FlyBe ------- have never heard of them and are alittle anxious.
Does anyone know who they are and what we can expect????!!!

Thanks for any info anyone can offer

They're a low-frills outfit like Ryanair and Easyjet ... and they also charge for baggage in the hold (per bag) when you book directly with them. As part of an Inghams package, this may be waived.

Here is their web site http://www.flybe.com

Hi all
Flybe have been around for quite a number of years. They used to be called British European. We have flown with them to Jersey and Guernsey and have found the staff and flight attendants very nice. They allocate your seats as you check-in.

Regards
Dawn

Many thanks for the quick replies folks

hi, just got back from a southampton to majorca flybe flight. flight and on board crew were excellent. however, just a note for those of you that may have booked your flights before the luggage payment came in to effect.
i made bookings online for a group of 10 adults back in october,before luggage had to be paid for and therefore exempt from paying. if there are a group of you going on one eticket, may i suggest that you print off a copy for each person/couple so you do not get the problems at check in as we did. as you know you do not have to check in as a whole group, all you need is your passport and booking ref no, (which i gave each couple ). at both southampton and especially at palma some of my group were told they would have to pay for their luggage and so i had to wait till all my group went through to make sure they got through check in ok, if there was a problem then i had to go up and show the original booking confirmation, which defeated the whole object of not having to book in as a group.
this did cause a lot of frustration and embarrassment plus holding up the queue.
i think the problem was that check in staff only had lead passengers names on their payment exemption list, and not all passengers flying.

regards- dotty

Go online to check-in bags

Flybe claims it will be the first low cost carrier to offer online check-in for passengers with hold baggage.

The airline is to introduce the 'Q-Buster' online check-in facility from April 3 next year across 101 routes.

It will be available to all passengers booking online and travelling with hand or hold luggage.

Online check-in will be available via http://www.flybe.com and will be extended for bookings made via the airline's call centre and travel agents.

Passengers with hand baggage will be able to print off their boarding card at home and go straight to security when they arrive at the airport, eliminating check-in and airport queues. Passengers travelling with hold baggage can leave their luggage at a dedicated fast bag drop area before going to the security gate.

Online check-in will be available from 24 hours prior to departure and up until two hours before the flight. Those returning on the same day will be able to check-in for their return flight before starting their journey.

Chief commercial officer Mike Rutter said: "Flybe's latest innovation means that passengers can now book online, reserve a seat online and check-in online, providing consumers with an experience that minimises the time booking and time spent at the airport, removing the need to queue and cutting down on hassle.

"We feel the latest development to the Flybe service will be a welcomed addition to our customer offering, eliminating the unnecessary time spent queuing and waiting around and easing the travel experience for time-conscious travellers."

With permission from Travelmole

hi - does anyone know when we can expect flybe's summer 2007 schedule to come on sale? thanks

Just flown with FLYBE from Birmingham down to Malaga. Flight operated by the new Embraer 195 air-plane and we were in seats 1a and 1b.

Love the new plane guys! Anyone else been on it?

Nivsy

Anyone with insider knowledge of Flybe, know what plans they have for the flights they will take over from BA Connect, when the takeover takes place, from Birmingham?

I am particularly interested in the flights, currently 2 daily, to Barcelona.

As both operators are holding the cards rather close to their chests at the moment - it is unclear what routes will be kept of disposed off. Needless to say, operations out of Exeter are probably safe under the FlyBe banner, all other provisional city routes will no doubt be subject to lots of speculation, change and cancellation. Bristol and Birmingham shall be for example interesting places - with Flybe and BA Connect players there as indeed shall be Edinburgh....so the routes to Barcelona from Birmingham is only one of many...although the likely hood of that service being maintained shall be i should imagine high - failing that soemone other operator would likely be taken up.

Nivsy

I've been trying to price up a flight to Galway from Birmingham as this route is due to start in March , I want to go in May but on the web page it only says March, will keep looking if not then i'll have to try Southampton.

I have booked myself and family with Fly B from Southamptom to Hanover. I have never heard of this airline before- read some reviews that they are known for long delays. Has anyone flown with this crowd before?

I have just now read a review on a fly b the plane dipping after take off etc-and was freaking out as i am not a very good flyer and the plane is smaller to your usual. As i dont know much about this airline i would be delighted to hear the negatives and positive comments please.

lol...dont worry - FLYBE are a well established and large regional operator out of the UK. Indeed they shall in the future be even bigger as they are now in the process of taking over British Airways regional operations (Connect/Bacon) on a lot of routes (although no doubt they will withdraw from a few as well).

They operate modern turbo prop Dash 8 Q400 aircraft which I hink are in many cases better than jets.....a little slower but not much on many of FLYBE routes. They also operate Bae 146 jet aircfat that are around 96-110 seaters. They are in the process of being replaced. Of greater significance, FLYBE are the first operator of the new Embraer 195 jet aircraft and I had the opportunity to fly on it from Birmingham down to Malaga. While it has had a few teething troubles - its going to be a great plane for FLYBE and all who fly and work on it seem positive.

Nivsy

I've just had a VERY unwanted phone call from FlyBE at 7:00 pm. I had booked return flights for Feb/March 2007 from Birmingham to Malaga.

They phoned to tell me that they will be no longer flying from Birmingham to Malaga or Alicante from Jan 2007 because of their their take up of the BA Connect flights. Did I want a full refund or to fly from Southampton, Norwich or Exeter instead. Well as I live more than 100 miles from any of those and 5 miles from Birmingham. I opted for the refund!!!

I was straight on the net and luckily I was able to book flights with BMI Baby, but it's cost me another £35. I just imagined all those other cancelled people logging on and booking and filling up all the available flights, and me not being able to get to the Costa del Sol where I have accomodation booked.

I think it's pretty bad form to cancel flights like this when I had booked in good faith and had everything arranged. What if I couldn't have got another suitable flight ? I would have lost my accomodation deposit! Maybe they ought to compensate me for having to pay extra for flights! I just hope that the refund arrives back on my debit card !!!

Has this happened to anyone else ?

Sorry to hear about your FLYBE problem. The situation is however the same with all airlines. They can and do cancel flights and routes and their only obligation is to provide you with an alternative flight within their schedules or offer you a full refund of monies paid which i understand FLYBE have done. It is unfortunate that you need to pay a little more with BMI Baby however I suppose if the cost ended up less than FLYBE at this stage you would not be complaining.

Regarding FLYBE - and BA Connect. There is always a possibility that more flights will be cancelled - new routes announced and schedules changed due to the take over of BA Connect/Bacon. This I agree is unfortunate hoewever is more likely than not as the airline re shapes and looks towards the future.

Nivsy

Thanks for the reply Nivsy,

But doesn't this make planning flights and holidays a very dodgy business ? I had a contract with FlyBe, they've broken that contract. If I had cancelled, I would have lost everything. Why does the airline have the right to cancel a contract with no comeback.

What happens if my new airline cancels ? It makes booking a holiday a bit of a lottery.

Yes you did have a contract with FLYBE and they have adhered to the Terms and Conditions of that contract that you agreed to enter into, by the company providing a full refund of monies due or the offer of an alternative route within their schedules. Not always fair but that is part of the contract agreement when you read the small print.

Don be put off booking or using low cost carriers. Change of schedules happen to all operators - some cancel flights others re-route perhaps via an additional airport. Time changes is not un common amongst the charter operators and it is a fact that sometimes customers are put at a disadvantage - however it is not particularly regular for mass change - but perhaps one should be aware that such things can ha[pen especially if booked well in advance or for flights during the winter periods.

Enjoy your trip with BMI Baby down to Malaga. Passed through Malaga on Mondy andthere were no less than 4 BMI Baby Boeing 737's on the ground at the same time!

Nivsy

14 routes axed as Flybe takes over BA Connect

Flybe is closing 14 BA Connect routes as part of its takover of the loss-making British Airways regional arm.

BA will incur an additional charge of £20 million to cover losses to the end of February at BA Connect.

The completion of the deal by Flybe includes £96 million of cash funding by BA to cover the inefficiencies of operating 50-seat jets and a degree of protection over future values of these aircraft until they are retired, a statement said.

Flybe said: "BA Connect is a loss-making business. There has had to be some difficult decisions but Flybe will take over 20 of the routes currently operated by BA Connect and are introducing 11 new routes."
The routes being cancelled are:

Aberdeen to Manchester
Birmingham to Geneva
Birmingham to Lyon
Birmingham to Madrid
Birmingham to Berlin
Edinburgh to Hamburg
Geneva to Manchester
Lyon to Manchester
Madrid to Manchester
Berlin to Manchester
Vienna to Manchester
Bristol to Munich
Bristol to Milan
Bristol to Zurich

The acquisition, which does not include BA Connect's London City or Manchester-New York routes, creates a business with more than £500 million in revenues and which will fly nearly 10 million passengers once the fleet transition is complete.

Flybe will take over many BA Connect routes with "significant price savings" of an average of £19 per passenger. But a number of loss-making routes will be shut from Birmingham, Manchester and Scottish airports.

In total, the deal brings the creation of 11 new routes out of Flybe's regional bases and sees the airline taking over 20 routes currently operated by BA Connect.

Flybe claims it will become Europe's largest regional airline with the creation of 11 new routes from regional airports:

- Manchester to Guernsey
- Manchester to Bergerac
- Manchester to Limoges
- Manchester to La Rochelle
- Southampton to Paris
- Southampton to Isle of Man
- Southampton to Frankfurt
- Gatwick to Bergerac
- Cardiff to Paris
- Edinburgh to Rennes
- Guernsey to Norwich

The new Flybe routes previously operated by BA Connect with fares cut are:

Birmingham - Aberdeen
Birmingham - Paris
Birmingham - Dusseldorf
Birmingham - Rennes
Birmingham - Hamburg
Birmingham - Milan
Birmingham - Stuttgart
Edinburgh - Paris
London Gatwick - Inverness
London Gatwick - Isle of Man
Manchester - Brussels
Manchester - Paris
Manchester - Dusseldorf
Manchester - Edinburgh
Manchester - Rennes
Manchester - Glasgow
Manchester - Hannover
Manchester - Isle of Man
Manchester - Milan
Manchester - Jersey (currently offered via Southampton)

The expanded airline will operate 152 routes in total, flying from 22 UK and 34 European airports with new routes to key European centres including Paris, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt and Milan.

Flybe plans to increase its current commitment to invest $1.2 billion in new aircraft to over $2 billion by increasing the fleet to over 80 Bombardier Q400 and Embraer 195 aircraft by 2010.

BA is also providing Flybe with commercial support by entering into a one way codeshare agreement on all previous BA Connect routes, allowing for a smooth consumer transition to the Flybe brand.

BA will receive a 15% interest in Flybe as part of the deal.

Flybe chairman and chief executive Jim French said: "The acquisition of BA Connect gives us critical mass across our domestic and European city markets and, with valuable slots at congested European airports, brings our growth plans forward by two years. Flybe is now firmly established as one of the UK's largest airlines.

"Flybe is above all a regional airline and the new routes this acquisition brings to our network reinforces our commitment to serving the whole of the UK. We are playing our part in supporting the regional economies of the UK in line with the Government's own ambitions.

"Flybe will employ over 3,000 staff in the new combined business. We are confident the new airline will offer exciting and continued career opportunities. During the last four months Flybe has worked closely with all unions and staff associations to ensure that all staff would be working on the same terms and conditions from the commencement of the new, combined business."

With permission from Travelmole