Early years at
Düsseldorf Airport in June 1980 wearing the 1991–2000 livery wearing the 2000–2002 livery Flybe started operations on 1 November 1979 as
Jersey European Airways as a result of a merger of the
Intra Airways from
Jersey and Express Air Services based in
Bournemouth. It was founded by John Habin, a resident of Jersey and the majority investor. After selling
Aviation Beauport and other business interests, Habin invested in the firm so that it could establish several routes from
Jersey Airport to major airports in the UK. In 1985, Jersey European Airways carried 160,000 passengers and achieved an annual revenue of just under £9million. That same year, the airline introduced a
business class service aboard some aircraft. That same year, the airline, which operated a mixed fleet of 12 British Aerospace 146s, four
Fokker F27s and two
Short 360s was in the process of leasing additional BAe 146s to cater for expansion. Jim French, Jersey European's deputy chief executive, announced that the company was performing detailed studies with the aim of introducing larger airliners in the 150- to 170-seat class, such as the
Boeing 737 and
Airbus A320 families.
2000–2010 In June 2000, the airline announced that it had rebranded as
British European; according to a company spokesperson, that was due to the Jersey European Airways name no longer being an accurate reflection of the scope of the routes which were covered. The name was soon shortened to simply
Flybe on 18 July 2002 and the airline repositioned itself as a full-service,
low-fare airline. Various pricing and product changes were made in line with this position such as discounted one-way tickets, the abolition of overbooking practices, a customer charter of the airline's service standards, as well as compensation for delays. In June 2005, it was announced that Flybe would procure a fleet of 26
Embraer E-195 regional airliners; it would claim that it had opted for the 118-seat E-195 over rival 150-seat aircraft due to economics and performance benefits. Flybe would serve as the launch customer for the E-195, receiving the first example of the type during the later half of 2006. Initially, the E-195 fleet were assigned to the airline's high-volume trunk routes, but the firm later planned to use it on new routes to expand their network. Further E-195s would be ordered by the airline over the following decade, the type making up a major proportion of Flybe's fleet. On 3 November 2006, it was announced that Flybe would buy
BA Connect, except for that airline's services out of
London City Airport. During March 2007, this takeover was completed; as a consequence of the BA Connect takeover, the ownership of Flybe was divided between Rosedale Aviation Holdings (69%), Flybe staff (16%) and the
International Airlines Group (15%). The acquisition increased Flybe's route network in both the UK and continental Europe, making Flybe Europe's largest regional airline. On 14 January 2008, it was announced that Flybe had signed a
franchise agreement with
Scottish airline
Loganair, to commence on 26 October 2008 following the termination of Loganair's franchise agreement with British Airways on 25 October 2008. The agreement would see Loganair aircraft flying in Flybe colours on 55 routes from Scotland. In 2008, in order to avoid losing a £280,000 rebate from
Norwich Airport, Flybe advertised for "actors", as well as offering free return flights to Dublin on its website. As a result, the environmental group
Friends of the Earth called on the government to launch an investigation into the aviation industry. Chief Executive Officer Jim French was recognised in the 2009
Queen's Birthday Honours List with a
CBE for his services to the airline industry. On 10 December 2010, Flybe floated in an
IPO on the
London Stock Exchange, with trading in shares commencing on the same day. Full public release of shares followed on 15 December 2010. The share price was set at 295p, valuing the company at approximately
£215million, and raising
£66million for the company, half of which was to pay for fleet expansion.
2011–2020 On 23 May 2013, it was reported that Flybe had sold its slots at
Gatwick Airport to
EasyJet for £20million, and that the slots would be handed over to EasyJet on 29 March 2014. CEO and chairman
Jim French retired in August 2013, leaving the post of CEO to Saad Hammad, formerly of EasyJet, while Simon Laffin became chairman. By November 2013, Hammad had shaken up the operation, requesting the resignations of three top managers within six weeks of his arrival. Out of 158 routes flown at the time, over 60 did not cover their direct operating expenses and the costs of crew and aircraft. In March 2014, it was announced that Flybe would undergo a major brand refresh. This new scheme included a new purple aircraft livery, new interior features and new uniforms. During June 2014, British Airways sold most of its remaining stake in the airline; it had already been reduced to 5% by share issues. In early 2016, it was announced that Flybe had negotiated a six-year agreement with
SAS Scandinavian Airlines to fly 4 ATR 72–9 aircraft on their behalf, starting in October 2016. On 4 March 2015, Flybe announced new routes from Cardiff Airport bringing the number of routes to eleven. Flybe also stated their intention to create a new base at Cardiff Airport in summer 2015, initially basing two
Embraer 195 aircraft there, which subsequently increased to three. On 10 November 2015, Flybe announced that it would base two Embraer 195 aircraft at
Doncaster Sheffield Airport in South Yorkshire, starting new routes to
Amsterdam,
Berlin Tegel,
Paris Charles de Gaulle (Paris CDG),
Jersey,
Alicante Airport,
Málaga,
Faro, Portugal and
Newquay . The announcement came on the same day that Flybe announced they would be pulling flights from
Bournemouth Airport in England.
Dublin Airport was added in October 2016, taking over where
Stobart Air left. On 26 October 2016, it was announced that Hammad would be standing down as CEO with immediate effect and consequently, Flybe was beginning the process of finding a replacement. On 21 November 2016, Flybe announced it would open its first European base at
Düsseldorf Airport in Germany. In February 2017 that commenced with two aircraft alongside 60 pilots, cabin crew and engineers. On 22 December 2016, Flybe started selling flights for 12 further destinations from
Southend Airport in London in an extension to their existing franchise operation with Stobart Air. Flybe and
Loganair separately announced that their franchise agreement would terminate in October 2017. Flybe then announced a partnership with
Eastern Airways, a British airline and would now operate routes in direct competition with Loganair–namely flights from the Scottish mainland to
Stornoway in the
Isle of Lewis,
Kirkwall in
Orkney, Scotland and
Sumburgh in
Shetland, Scotland. On 16 January 2017, former
CityJet boss
Christine Ourmieres-Widener, took over as CEO after Saad Hammad left in October 2016. Later in the year, Flybe began flying from Heathrow to
Aberdeen Airport and
Edinburgh taking over slots previously used by
Virgin Atlantic Little Red. On 22 February 2018, franchise partner Stobart Air confirmed interest in a takeover bid of 100% of Flybe for an undisclosed fee. However that bid was rejected by the carrier and Stobart scrapped its interest on 22 March 2018, causing share prices in the airline, which had climbed by up to 25% following the bid, to drop back to their previous level. In September 2018, a revised aircraft livery was launched, with purple and white being retained but lilac replacing the red and yellow. On 14 November 2018, after the airline's shares fell by 75%, Flybe announced that it was talking with various parties about a potential sale of the business, as part of a wide-ranging review of strategic options. On 22 November, news emerged that
Virgin Atlantic was one of the parties with which Flybe had been holding discussions; Flybe's slots at Heathrow were of particular interest to Virgin Atlantic, along with the potential to use Flybe to feed passengers into the Virgin Atlantic hubs in
Manchester and London Heathrow.
Connect Airways takeover On 11 January 2019, a takeover bid worth £2.2million by the
Connect Airways consortium, which includes Virgin Atlantic and Stobart Aviation, was confirmed.