Flybe has announced its summer schedule for 2023. The latest iteration of the UK regional carrier is launching flights to two new destinations and bringing back customer favorites for the summer season. Flights to Aberdeen in northern Scotland and the French city of Bergerac will commence from Birmingham at the beginning of June.

Holiday favorites from Flybe's base in Birmingham will also return for the summer. Due to demand, the carrier will be resuming its seasonal services to Brest and Avignon in France later this year. The published schedule also confirms the airline will be increasing frequencies from Belfast City Airport. The airline will serve ten destinations from the Northern Irish city this summer, with daily flights to half of those.

Flybe CEO, Dave Pflieger, expressed his excitement for the upcoming season and highlighted the airline's on-board food and drink offerings:

“Our entire team is thrilled to be starting our second year of operations with this greatly enhanced summer schedule. We plan to not only provide great everyday value-for-money, but also better-than-ever flight options across the UK, over to Amsterdam, and south to popular holiday spots in France."

“In addition to providing more great flights and outstanding customer service, we also look forward to providing our ever-popular complimentary offerings of tea, coffee, juice, and biscuits to all who fly with us.

Significant boost in Birmingham.

The carrier is doubling down at its mainland UK base in Birmingham with two new routes. Flybe will launch flights to Bergerac's Aéroport Bergerac Dordogne Périgord on June 3rd. The flights will operate twice weekly on Saturday and Sunday until July 24th, when a third weekly rotation is added on Tuesdays until the route ends on September 9th. Flybe will go head-to-head with Jet2 and Ryanair on the Birmingham to Bergerac route. The Jet2 flights are currently weekly on Saturdays beginning at the end of May. Ryanair also links the city pair with flights on Tuesdays and Saturdays.

UPDATE: 2023/01/12 13:52 EST BY JONATHAN E. HENDRY

Statement from Flybe

When contacted by Simple Flying for this article, the airline highlighted a strong customer demand for the new route to France as the inspiration for the new destination:

"We know that UK consumers enjoy visiting France for their summer holidays and our customers have been asking that we fly to Bergerac from Birmingham Airport during the summer months. We see great demand, which is why we are offering this new route."

Flybe will also launch flights to Aberdeen in Scotland at the beginning of June. Flights will be up to twice daily from the carrier's headquarters in Birmingham. The 90-minute flights depart Birmingham at 06:50 and 18:45 and return to Birmingham after a half-hour turnaround, enabling easy day trips between the two cities.

The route sees competition from Scotland's airline Loganair, which links the airports with up to three daily flights throughout the summer. Christopher Tibbett, group head of airline relations and marketing for Aberdeen International Airport, expressed his excitement for the route launch:

“Birmingham is one of Aberdeen’s most popular destinations. This up-to-double-daily service will deliver even greater choice and convenience for our passengers.”

The French destinations of Brest and Avignon are also both returning this summer. The flights from Birmingham to both destinations will run weekly until July 25th and twice weekly until September 9th.

A steady summer for Flybe

The new schedule also brings additional frequencies from George Best Belfast City Airport and the continuation of several key routes. From Belfast, the carrier will offer ten nonstop destinations. A daily link from East Midlands Airport to Amsterdam will also continue alongside the existing service to Belfast.

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Elsewhere in the UK, Flybe will link the popular domestic holiday destination of Cornwall to both Manchester and London Heathrow. The area's Cornwall Newquay Airport is also home to the United Kingdom's first Spaceport, which saw its first satellite launch earlier this month. Flybe's summer schedule begins on Sunday, March 26th, 2023, and operates until Saturday, October 28th, when Flybe's winter schedule comes into effect.

Source: Aviation24, The Press and Journal