Flybe has this morning, 23 April 2014, announced it will set up a base at London City airport, launching new routes to Belfast, Dublin, Edinburgh, Exeter and Inverness from Monday 27 October 2014.
This is part of a five year deal between FlyBe and London City airport and a turnaround plan for Flybe which has seen it withdraw from London Gatwick entirely.
Dublin and Edinburgh will be served four times daily. Belfast City and Exeter will be served three times daily. Inverness will be served twice daily.
In the case of Dublin and Edinburgh FlyBe will be competing against CityJet and British Airways respectively.
Whilst Flybe is at pains to emphasise it has carried out a rigorous assessment of the viability of these routes, competing against BA on London City to Edinburgh (typically served eight times a day and a route CityJet has withdrawn from) will be tough. Three flights a day to Exeter also seems like rather a lot.
Flybe also claim that further announcements regarding off peak leisure services to ski, French and Northern Spain from the airport will be made in due course.
