Flybe, soon to be rebranded Virgin Connect, will fly six new domestic routes next year, as well as a new Manchester-Stuttgart service.
The six domestic routes will operate from Southend airport, flying to Belfast City, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Newcastle, Isle of Man and Jersey.
The first phase of Flybe’s summer 2020 programme features 104 routes and comprises 2,500 flights a week between the UK and mainland Europe.
Seats for flights operating between 29 March 2020 and 24 October 2020 will go on sale on Thursday (14 November), with additional summer routes to be announced soon.
Flybe’s new Southend services more than double its route network at the airport, where it already flies to Newquay, Caen, Rennes and Groningen.
In total, Flybe will offer 214 flights a week from Southend, operated by three 78-seat De-Havilland Q400 aircraft based at Belfast City, Edinburgh and Glasgow, and two 70-seat ATR aircraft based at Southend.
Earlier this year, Flybe was acquired by Connect Airways, a consortium comprising Virgin Atlantic, Stobart Group and Cyrus Capital Partners.
After confirming Flybe would be rebranded under the Virgin banner, the Virgin Connect brand was formally unveiled last month.
Connect plans to increase Flybe’s focus on business and VFR – visiting family, friends and relatives – travel, while Virgin intends to utilise Flybe - flying as Virgin Connect – next year as a feed carrier for its longer-haul routes flying from Manchester, Heathrow and Gatwick.
The new flights will also be available to Flybe’s 11 codeshare partners, allowing agents to offer clients more options for their local airport.
Connect Airways chief executive Mark Anderson said the new roster featured a range of scheduling improvements on the carrier’s most popular high frequency services.
“This schedule strengthens Flybe’s commitment to providing unparalleled connectivity from regional airports to destinations across the UK, Europe and beyond,” said Anderson.
“By increasing our presence at Southend, our customers will also, for the first-time next summer, benefit from Flybe’s ability to create a truly customer-centric regional network.
“As Flybe moves towards its full re-brand as Virgin Connect next year, we are proud of the role the airline continues to play in bringing people and communities even closer.”
From Southend, Flybe will operate 18 flights a week to Belfast, Edinburgh and Glasgow; 13 to Newcastle; seven to the Isle of Man; and up to two from Jersey.
It will also extend eight winter ski routes flying from Southend through to Easter: Birmingham, Exeter and Southampton to Chambery; and Cardiff, Exeter, Isle of Man, Jersey and Southampton to Geneva.
Manchester, meanwhile, will gain a new daily Ejet service to Stuttgart, and extra flights to Amsterdam, Luxembourg and Hannover.
Flybe has also increased frequencies at Southampton, its Edinburgh service increasing to five-times daily; Newcastle to four-times daily; and Paris Charles de Gaulle to three-times daily on week days (twice-daily on Sundays).
