Flybe Will Open First European Base in Dusseldorf

Europe’s largest regional airline Flybe, has announced that they will open their first base in Düsseldorf, Germany. The airline aims to base two of their Bombardier Q400 aircraft at the airport. According to their press release, the carrier has started a “high-profile recruitment drive for more than 60 pilots and cabin crew.” In time for the February launch, all recruited crew will be trained at Flybe’s Training Academy in Exeter. Flybe will also be widening their recruitment opportunities within the region of Germany as well.  The airline aims to start operations out of the base from February 2017 and to expand on their six German routes.

Travelers from Birmingham, Cardiff, Doncaster, Manchester, Southampton, and London City can take advantage of this base opening by traveling onwards from Düsseldorf under codesharing agreements with Air Berlin. This could take them as far as Abu Dhabi or New York. Within Europe, Air Berlin offers services to destinations within Scandinavia, Poland, Italy, France, Austria, and Switzerland.

Dusseldorf and other Flybe destinations within Europe are key players in their model for success; 41% of all seat capacity from the UK are allocated to flights in Europe. Düsseldorf, in particular, is a key market for Flybe to potentially thrive as the North Rhine-Westphalia based airport carries over 22 million passengers per year to destinations across the globe.

Vincent Hodder, the Chief Revenue Officer for Flybe commented on this milestone for the airline saying, “The decision to open a new crew base in Dusseldorf marks an important milestone for Flybe. Regional communities are increasingly under-served by mainstream airlines and alternative modes of transport in mainland Europe as they are in the UK. Local basing of aircraft and crew will help us serve the local community in and around Dusseldorf much more cost-effectively. With strong business as well as leisure traffic resulting from Germany’s position as a key economic powerhouse, there is a high travel propensity for both.”

Earlier this year, Flybe launched services to Luxembourg from Manchester, which showed the start of further growth within the European market.

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James Field

James is a passionate AvGeek who has been actively spotting for years. James has been an Aviation Enthusiast for 7 years and has a fond likening to Concorde! James hopes to grow in the aviation industry with journalism being his primary focus.

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