Another brand of airline gone

The Flybe brand will be disappearing, as Virgin Atlantic and Stobart Aviation have established a joint company, with Connect Airways, to acquire UK regional operator Flybe. The new company will buyout Flybe for under a £2.2 million cash offer. It is the biggest downfall for Flybe, which was worth more than £300m less than five years ago.
The consortium would also inject £100m into the financially struggling airline, in the form of a £20m working capital loan and £80m to invest.
The new management plans to rebrand Flybe, and said the airline will continue as an independent operating carrier with a separate Air Operator Certificate, under the Virgin Atlantic brand.
Flybe has 77 aircraft, and has been suffering from higher fuel costs, currency fluctuations and significant uncertainties presented by Brexit. Flybe started operations on 1 November 1979 as Jersey European Airways as a result of a merger of the Jersey-based Intra Airways and the Bournemouth-based Express Air Services Flybe is a British airline based in Exeter, England. In 1983 the airline was sold to Walker Steel Group, which also owned Spacegrand Aviation, and the two airlines were merged under the Jersey European name in 1985. Jersey European was renamed British European in 2000 (shortened to "BE"), and received its current name in 2002. It is the largest independent regional airline in Europe. Flybe carries 8 million passengers a year between 81 airports across the UK and the rest of Europe, with over 210 routes across 15 countries. Its two hubs are Manchester and Birmingham airports but it also has a number of codeshares allowing connections to long-haul flights from airports such as London Heathrow, Paris CDG, Dublin and Amsterdam. The airline is a member of the European Regions Airline Association. Flybe's parent company Flybe Group PLC (formerly known as Walker Aviation Limited) is listed on the London Stock Exchange.

Current Fleet

As of December 2018^[update], the Flybe fleet consists of the following aircraft:

Flybe Fleet

Aircraft	In Service	Orders	Passengers	Notes
ATR 72–600	5	—	70	Operating for Scandinavian Airlines.
Bombardier Dash 8 Q400	54	—	78
Embraer 175	11	4	88	Deliveries between July and December 2019.
Embraer 195	7	—	118	To be phased out by 2020 and transferred to Stobart Air
Total	77	4