BA Connect
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BA Connect was a fully owned subsidiary airline of British Airways. It operated a network of domestic and European services from a number of airports in the United Kingdom on behalf of British Airways. The airline operated as a low-cost carrier, with food sold via a 'buy on board' programme (except for flights to London City Airport).
On 3 November 2006 British Airways announced the sale of BA Connect to Flybe. It formally transferred to Flybe on 25 March 2007.
The company holds a United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority Type A Operating Licence, it is permitted to carry passengers, cargo and mail on aircraft with 20 or more seats.[1]
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[edit] History
The company was incorporated on 26 January 1970 as Brymon Aviation Limited which operated as Brymon Airways. On 30 July 1993 the company was renamed Brymon Airways Limited to reflect the operating name.
The company was purchased by British Airways in 1993 and on 28 March 2002 it was merged with British Regional Airlines and was renamed British Airways Citiexpress Limited operating as British Airways Citiexpress.
The regional operations of British Airways at Birmingham and Manchester,[1] and the operations of the former CityFlyer Express, were integrated into the new airline later in 2002.
On 1 February 2006 the airline was renamed BA Connect Limited operating as BA Connect and operations moved to a low-cost carrier model, with food sold via a 'buy on board' programme (except for flights to London City Airport). However, allocated seating and a baggage valet service will still be available, while lounge access, tier points and BA Miles remain unaffected for those in the Executive Club. Operationally the new service became operational on 26 March 2006.
BA Connect handled most of British Airways' domestic and European services that do not serve London Heathrow or Gatwick airports. It has hubs in Birmingham, Bristol, London City, Manchester and Southampton. From these locations the carrier operated services to several northwest European destinations and also to Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen. A few services also operated from Gatwick. In total, BA Connect flew from 17 airports in the UK and Ireland on 63 routes to major or central regional airports.
As it is now no longer a subsidiary of, and operator for, British Airways, it does not hold an affiliate status in Oneworld.
[edit] Sale to Flybe
On 3 November 2006, British Airways chief executive said that he had reached an agreement for Flybe to purchase BA Connect. Jim French from Flybe gave a radio interview on Radio 4 on this day. BA will ensure that Flybe has sufficient funding in order to achieve its growth targets and the transition out of current BA Connect fleet. In return BA will acquire a 15% stake in the new business. The acquisition (which does not include BA Connect routes to London City or from Manchester to New York) will significantly increase the Flybe route network in both the UK and continental Europe, making Flybe the largest regional airline in Europe. Retention of the London City routes will result in BA retaining the RJ100 aircraft for these domestic and European services.
Media reports state that it is believed the airline was sold for the sum of £1.[2] Although not verified, businesses that are losing money are usually sold for a nominal sum in order to indicate a legal transaction has taken place. However other media state that as well as writing off some £106 million as "lost" in the sale of BA Connect, BA had to pay Flybe a sum of money to take on the company due to Flybe actually taking on a company that will cost them money rather than make profits for the foreseeable future.[3]
It is stated that 25 March 2007 is the official handover date for the airline to Flybe, and that redundancies amongst staff cannot be ruled out.[4]
Flybe have stated that they want to dispose of the BA Connect fleet by Spring 2009, replacing it with their own ordered aircraft and that they will keep all BA Connect pilots and engineers.[5]
Speculation is now ongoing about how code sharing agreements will be dealt with under the Flybe takeover. It is believed that code shares between BA Connect and other airlines meant timetables were arranged so that one airline under the code share agreement would not fly at the same time as another one in order to avoid direct competition between two code sharing airlines.[6]
Much concern was made of the shedding of routes across Scotland, but Flybe have stated that BA Connect routes will be kept and expanded.[7]
Media are reporting that there is likely to be job losses now within the Scottish area of operations of BA Connect. Officials are visiting all Scottish airports on the BA Connect network to discuss the situation with current employees. However Flybe have stated that the only job losses they anticipate will be ground based jobs. Under official redundancy rules, staff have to be given 90 days notice of impending redundancy, which if Flybe are to issue notices in time for their take over, will mean most staff allocated for redundancy will get letters at Christmas.[8]
BA Connect are in the process of closing their Manchester Cabin Crew base before the sale to Flybe [9]
Flybe have stated it is their intention now to expand the Birmingham to Scotland routes following the take over [10]
On 6 March 2007 Flybe stated that they would not be operating any former BA Connect services from Bristol. Consequently the last flights on any of BA Connect's routes from Bristol will be on 24 March.
[edit] Services
BA Connect operated from several destinations that are also served by the parent company, and are part of British Airways destinations. Those that are not served by British Airways itself, mainly UK regional destinations, are listed in British Airways franchise destinations.
[edit] Fleet
The BA Connect fleet included the following aircraft, before the sale to Flybe (March 2007)
- 1 BAe 146-100 (To Flybe)
- 2 BAe 146-200 (To Flybe)
- 1 BAe 146-300 (To Flybe)
- 10 Avro RJ100 (To BA Cityflyer)
- 6 Bombardier Dash 8 Q311 (To Flybe)
- 10 Embraer ERJ 145 EP (To Flybe)
- 18 Embraer ERJ 145 EU (To Flybe)
[edit] Subleases
The following aircraft were subleased to other carriers:
- 6 Avro RJ100ER aircraft to Swiss International Air Lines
- 12 BAe Jetstream 41 aircraft to Eastern Airways, return to lessor 2007-09
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- ^ The regional operations of British Airways sub divided into Scotland, Birmingham and Manchester. Aircraft were titled British Airways Scotland; British Airways Birmingham and British Airways Manchester respectively. The service previous operated by BR Scotland were incorporated with the Loganair franchise services into the British Regional Airlines operation. Flagship aircraft of the BA Birmingham operation was Boeing 737 G-XBHX, and of the BA Manchester operation was Boeing 737 G-XMAN. Several other Boeing 737 aircraft based at these airports were given registrations appropriate to the destinations served - G-OMUC and G-OFRA
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