In recent weeks the UK aviation news has been dominated by regional airlines, with the Flybe takeover taking centre stage as well as the collapse of FlyBMI. However these are only a couple of the wide variety of regional airlines that fly in the British Isles. Here I will say a little bit about each of them.
Aurigny
Owned by the states of Guernsey, Aurigny flies from Guernsey and Alderney airports to the United Kingdom. Two of there routes are designated as life-line (Guernsey - Heathrow and Guernsey - Alderney) meaning that they receive state funding and are protected from competition. However the rest of their routes all operate currently under an open skies agreement. Aurigny operates a mixed fleet of aircraft consisting of 4 Dornier Do 228 aircraft and 1 ATR 42 and 3 ATR 72. In 2014 Aurigny acquired their first jet aircraft to operate on their busiest route Guernsey - London Gatwick following the withdrawal of Flybe from this route.
BA CityFlyer
BA CityFlyer is probably the largest of the airline on this list, due to the fact that they use the British Airways branding, and also due to the fact that the main limiting factor on their fleet size is their main operating base London City, that limits them to using Embraer 190 aircraft at the largest. From London City they fly mainly business routes, relying on London City's proximity to the main financial district of London. In recent years they have also been trying to spread their reach beyond City airport, now operating flight from Stansted, Edinburgh and Manchester as well. Their self-operated fleet consists of Embraer regional jets, however they also lease aircraft from other airlines such as Saab 2000, Embraer E-Jets and also BAE 146.
Blue Islands
Also based in Guernsey like Aurigny, Blue islands operates from both the islands of Guernsey and Jersey to destinations across the United Kingdom, as well as seasonal routes to a few destinations on the continent. Blue Islands operates a fleet consisting exclusively of ATR aircraft, having retired their last BAE Jetstream in 2014. In 2016 Blue Islands entered into a franchise agreement with Flybe, meaning that all their aircraft fly in Flybe colours and all tickets are sold on Flybe's website. However the last two new aircraft that they have received have been painted in a fully white livery, perhaps due to concerns about the future of Flybe.Eastern Airways
Like Blue Islands, Eastern Airways is also a Flybe franchise partner, however this is less obvious on their aircraft, with only one of them being painted in a Flybe livery. Eastern Airways is fully owned by Bristow Helicopters, with these co-operation extending to one route (Aberdeen - Scatsta). Most of Eastern Airways operations are focused on the north of the country, and their varied fleet contains ATR 72, BAE Jetstreams, ERJ 145 and Saab 2000.
Flybe
Flybe is the largest airline on this list, also being the largest regional airline in Europe. Recently bought by Connect Airways, a group consisting of Virgin Atlantic, Stobart Air and one other financial backer, their main two bases are at Birmingham and Manchester, however they also have a presence at the majority of airports in the United Kingdom. The Flybe consists of over 50 Dash 8-Q400, making them the largest operator of this aircraft in the world, as well as 17 Embraer E-Jets. Flybe also have franchise agreements with 3 other carriers, Blue Islands, Eastern Airways and Stobart Air.
Hebridean Air Services
Hebridean Air Services operates a small fleet of 2 Britten Norman Islanders, which are painted in an eye catching yellow livery. Based at Oban Airport where they are the only carrier, they operate a couple of scheduled services to nearby islands as well as offering charter flights to airports across Scotland.
Isles Of Scilly Skybus
Based in the South West of England, Isles of Scilly Skybus operates services from Cornwall to St Mary's in the Isles Of Scilly. In Cornwall they serve Land's End and Newquay airports, both exclusively serving St Mary's. They have a fleet of 8 aircraft which are evenly split between the Britten Norman Islander and DHC-6 Twin Otter.
Loganair
Calling themselves Scotland's Airline, most of Loganair's services operate from Scotland however they also have some services from the rest of the United Kingdom, such as Derry to Stansted which the picked up when Fly BMI collapsed. From 1993 until 2008 Loganair was a franchisee of British Airways, and from 2008 until 2017, when they launched operations under their own brand. Loganair operates a mixed fleet of 36 aircraft consisting of planes manufactured by Britten-Norman, de Havilland, Viking Air, Dornier, Embarer and Saab. Loganair also holds the honour of operating the world's shortest passenger flight which on average lasts about a minute, flying from Westray to Papa Westray.
Comments
Post a Comment