Virgin consortium buy Flybe

Flybe will be rebranded to Virgin Atlantic, after the airline was taken over by Virgin Atlantic and the Eddie Stobart Group. The airline plans to provide a regional feeder service to Virgin Atlantic's long haul operations.

The purchase by Virgin Atlantic of UK airline Flybe for two million pounds will see it become a subsidiary of the larger long-haul airline, operated by a new company Connect Airways, containing Flybe, Stobart Air and Propius, an aircraft leasing business.

Virgin Atlantic say the plan is for Flybe to link UK regions and Ireland via London Heathrow and Gatwick, plus Manchester, to Virgin Atlantic's small long-haul network.

Flybe has recently launched flights from London Heathrow to Edinburgh and Aberdeen after the carrier put itself up for sale late last year. These are coincidentally the same routes that Virgin Atlantic tried to operate with it's short lived offshoot Little Red.

Little Red operated four aircraft on these two routes, but was closed within two years by 2015, having obtained little traffic.

Frequent Flyers with Virgin, and it's cousins such as Virgin Australia at the time could earn and redeem Frequent Flyer miles on Little Red, and the same is expected of Flybe's routes. The number of miles that could be earned was poor, as the routes were very short, but earned up to 40 Status Credits (20 on standard fares, 10 on cabin bag only fares).

A loan will ensure the struggling regional carrier Flybe, previously known as British European, will continue to service it's existing network from the UK. The £20 million bridging loan will support Flybe's ongoing working capital and operational requirements.

The combined group will also operate independently of Virgin Atlantic under one management team, and will be 40 per cent owned by Cyrus Capital Partners, with Stobart Aviation holding 30 per cent, and 30 per cent by Virgin Atlantic Limited.