Flybe pull planes out for Norwich Airport
05.12.08
Budget airline Flybe announced it would no longer have planes based in Norwich Airport today. It also revealled the jobs of its workers in the city are at risk, the Evening News reports. Flybe today met the 45 members of staff based at Norwich Airport (21 cabin crew, 20 flight deck and 4 engineers) and they are being invited to apply for vacancies elsewhere.
While the airline insisted it was still committed to Norwich, it announced its planes would no longer be based in the city and that 45 jobs would be transferred to other cities. In addition, the Norwich to Dublin route is being axed in March. It blamed the economic climate for the decisions, which are another blow to Norwich Airport.
In order to maintain services to and from Norwich Flybe will position aircraft at the ‘other end’ of existing routes. That means, for example, that the daily Norwich to Edinburgh service will commence from Edinburgh, rather than Norwich and the crew based in the city would lose their jobs unless they move.
Mike Rutter, Flybe's chief commercial officer, told the newspaper: ‘Tough choices have to be taken in the current economic climate. The only realistic way to retain services at the airport and for Flybe to maintain a strong schedule from Norwich is to redeploy the aircraft to Manchester and Edinburgh.'
Flybe also announced the Edinburgh and Manchester routes would be supplemented by the return of services to Jersey and Exeter from Norwich next summer.
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