3 airlines partner on UK domestic flights - is this the new Flybe?
3 UK domestic carriers - Aurigny, Blue Islands and Loganair have announced a new partnership to widen their working relationship to offer seamless travel connections across their route networks; aim to coordinate their benefits for frequent flyers; and launch a new programme of co-operation to harness their collective buying power.
Existing partnerships between Blue Islands and Aurigny, and Loganair and Blue Islands, will be strengthened and a new partnership for connecting flights linking the networks of Loganair and Aurigny will be introduced. This will open-up a wide range of connections to and from Guernsey in particular, offering new connections to the north of England, Scotland and the Isle of Man at airports via including Manchester, Bristol and Birmingham where the airlines’ networks meet. Existing links between the Loganair and Blue Islands networks – centred on Southampton and Manchester today – will also be expanded. The map below shows the existing UK operations of the three airlines:
Each carrier will retain a presence in their core market - Aurigny in Guernsey, Blue Islands in Jersey, Exeter and Southampton and Loganair in Scotland, Northern England, Northern Ireland and Isle of Man. Given their geographic spread and lack of overlap, the three airlines appear to be natural partners in the wake of the collapse of Flybe in 2020 - and showing intent to be a new force in domestic travel - competing against International Airlines Group, easyJet and the new Flybe which is planned to launch in 2022.
Since the collapse of Flybe in March 2020, many airlines have picked up routes across the UK with Aurigny, Blue Islands and Loganair picking up the majority of the routes. They have managed to grow greater brand awareness and loyalty, operating throughout the pandemic and have managed to recruit former crew and pilots of Flybe. Their presence in the UK market had been growing and dominance cementing with this partnership enhancing this and ensuring they are key market players in the UK domestic market.
Regarding frequent flying, each of the airlines operates its own frequent flyer programme and an early objective is to align the programmes so that customers can earn and redeem benefits across all three airlines’ services. Clan Loganair, Aurigny’s Frequent Flyer and Blue Islands’ Blue Skies Club will remain independent programmes, but the ability to earn and redeem points will offer a far greater range of routes and flights for customers.
The synergies and benefits for customers will be complemented by a new programme of co-operation between the airlines on technical and purchasing matters. The European-built, environmentally conscious ATR turboprop aircraft forms the backbone of the fleet for all three airlines, and there are several areas of potential co-operation ranging from major maintenance checks, purchasing of aircraft spares, and training of pilots and engineers which are expected to provide genuine operational and cost efficiencies for the airline trio. They will also be working to use buying power collectively across their operations in areas such as the purchasing of fuel and ground handling.
This new deal is a clear demonstration of intent to be a force in the UK domestic market, enhance connectivity (thus load factor) on flights and to able to compete with the growing competition in the market - notably Flybe whom are scheduled to restart operations in 2022 with a Birmingham base (read more here: Is a Flybe launch imminent? (seanm1997.blogspot.com). However, this is not a new Flybe. Flybe operated a number of bases around the country under one brand. This is a partnership, enhancing regional brands and connecting markets in areas that they are established and have a core, existing customer base.
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