MichielR

Flybe and Air France announce landmark tie-up

UK’s Number One Domestic airline’s new commercial relationship with major European carrier extends global reach Air France further strengthens its position in Europe’s Number One market.

Flybe and Air France, have today announced plans to implement this autumn, an extensive commercial relationship in a move that will benefit the interests of their customers and the communities they serve.

This new relationship takes the form of an extensive codeshare agreement that will add value to millions of regional air travellers in the UK,France and beyond, giving Flybe passengers access to five additional routes between the UK and France as well as seven new domestic French routes and 11 international routes.

See http://corporate.airfrance.com/en/pr...commerciale-1/

Cupart

Have flown FlyBe a couple of times and it's actually not half bad for being a LCC, except it's not that cheap... FlyBe do operate quite a few central areas of France that AF doesn't so this is a plus IMO, but most are out of Southampton unfortunately.

Wasn't FlyBe once a sub of BA?

Roger

Almost.

Flybe bought the non-LCY routes of BA Connect in 2007. As a consequence, BA part-owns Flybe (15%).
http://www.flybe.com/company_information/history.htm
http://www.flybe.com/company_information/ownership.htm

I wonder which routes will qualify for ST status in FB, i.e. qualifying flights to extend the life of FB miles.

Henry III

@:-) This sounds almost too good to be true! ^^ I recently had a couple of BE flights to/from LSI, but they were operated by LoganAir and not that great. I have a o/w FlyBe down to CWL in a few weeks and, as Cher Cupart has said, they're not actually that cheap, especially if you want to pay by c/c and have a seat.

However, the AF codeshare agreement on the GLA-CDG route is excellent for me and many other Glasgow-based AF fans, as we now won't have to travel overland to EDI to plug into the AF l/h network. And I'm sure the same is true for folks in other UK cities not linked to CDG by AF or CityJet.

Actually, for some time now there's been speculation and/or rumours that CityJet might be starting up GLA-CDG service, but I guess that's off the cards now!

So, what next - FlyBe in SkyTeam? (This was a flippant, surreal wish I posted over in the SkyTeam forum a little while ago ... maybe somebody who's somebody looked in! )

-- HenryBe

Henry III

AFAIK, any flight with an AF (or KL) prefix, regardless of the operator, gives FB level miles (unless they invent a 0% rate for a new BE booking class ).

-- Henry

kmck

Sorry can't get excited by this news as GLA-CDG is not a direct service.
Had the misfortune of travelling Flybe on GLA-CDG via BHX some years ago.
Not a good experience.

Why can't a proper airline (non LCC) not offer GLA-CDG v.v. and make money on it?

Henry III

Kinda takes the edge off the 'good news'; flying GLA-CDG to connect to AF l/h and having to change somewhere, I guess AMS wins over BHX every time! (Although I've just checked FlyBe.com and they're offering MAN and SOU as intermediates, but I think AMS still wins.)

That's a very good question and has been asked on FlyerTalk on a number of previous occasions! GLA seems to stick out like the proverbial sore thumb as the largest UK city without proper flights to CDG. Maybe there's still hope in CityJet!

-- Henry

Hannibal Lecter

Originally Posted by Roger
I wonder which routes will qualify for ST status in FB, i.e. qualifying flights to extend the life of FB miles.

Air France will market and add its AF code to the following Flybe flights to and from:

Birmingham - Avignon; Bergerac; Bordeaux; Brest; Chambery; La Rochelle; Limoges; Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG); Perpignan; Rennes; Toulouse; Belfast; Glasgow; Guernsey; Inverness; Isle Of Man; Jersey
Exeter - Avignon; Bergerac; Chambery; Rennes
Edinburgh - Bergerac; Limoges; Rennes
Glasgow - La Rochelle
Jersey - Nice
London Gatwick - Bergerac; Limoges
Manchester - Avignon; Bergerac; Brest; La Rochelle; Limoges; Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG); Rennes; Belfast; Glasgow; Inverness; Isle of Man
Newcastle - Limoges
Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG) - Belfast, Cardiff, Exeter, Glasgow, Jersey
Southampton - Avignon; Bergerac; Bordeaux; Brest; Chambery ; Limoges; La Rochelle; Nice; Orly; Perpignan; Rennes; Belfast; Glasgow; Guernsey; Jersey; Isle of Man; Inverness; Leeds Bradford
http://www.flybe.com/news/1007/13.htm

Goldorak

In fact AF has a previous history of cooperation with FlyBE which was called at that time British European and even before Jersey European. But it was not a code-share agreement but a franchise agreement. They were operating some current CityJet routes like CDG-EDI, CDG-BHX, etc, purely under AF codes. Already BAe146 as for CityJet

Aviatrix

It'll be interesting to see some of the logistics of this new arrangement. For example, FlyBe charges for baggage, and for choosing one's own seat. How will this work for AF codeshares?

Also, I'd be a bit reluctant to rely on BE-operated flights for connections. Their reliability/punctuality record is dreadful (we don't call them "Flymaybe" for nothing!). I travel from SOU on a fairly regular basis (miles from home, but the only place with direct flights to Alderney), and I don't think I've ever been at SOU for more than a few minutes without hearing the words "Flybe regret to announce...." following by details of a (long) delay or cancellation.

Hannibal Lecter

and you can buy one way tickets with FlyBe


they both have a lot of flights in between, say, MAN-CDG, will they compete with eachother or will the competition be eliminated

Henry III

Actually, FlyBe online timetable shows one direct flight per day each way GLA-CDG...
-- Henry

kmck

All those 1's after the day of the week of operation signify the number of stops.
Think it's Cardiff on the way from GLA-CDG.

The BE website is awful.
The booking engine is passenger unfriendly. Misleading initial fares then they want passenger details before they try and flog you a seat reservation and check baggage in both for additional charges.

I dislike BE as much as AF.

Henry III

Well spotted! I didn't get that - but when you go to the interactive route map, there is certainly a strong suggestion that GLA-CDG is a direct route!

Yep! Absolutely agree.

I refer the honourable gentleman to my previous reply!



-- Henry

jms_uk

....check-in and lounge access, etc....