The UK has a new airline, of sorts. On a gloomy and damp April 13th morning, the new Flybe took to the sky on its inaugural flight.

I was delighted to be aboard to join in the celebration. The route of the first flight: Birmingham to Belfast City. The aircraft: G-JECX, a 15.1-year-old Dash-8-Q400 previously operated by – yes, you guessed it.

Flight BE404

Flight BE404 left Birmingham at 09:09 and arrived in Belfast City at 10:01. Cruising at 24,000 feet, it flew near Liverpool, straight over the Isle of Man, and over the sea to land on runway 22. There were two captains: Adam Brighton, Head of Training (whose family was aboard), and Mark Firth, the regional carrier's Director of Flight Operations.

Flybe has two roundtrip flights on this historic day, both between Birmingham and Northern Ireland's downtown airport. However, it's undermined by a very different competitive scene than when Flybe 1.0 existed.

In 2019, Flybe was the only carrier between Belfast City and Birmingham. Now it's against Aer Lingus Regional – operated by Emerald Airlines, with Birmingham its first route from Belfast – while easyJet has more flights than ever from Belfast International.

The city-pair has 5% more seats for sale between May and September than pre-pandemic, according to OAG.

Asked about the higher competition on the inaugural flight, Dave Pflieger, Flybe's CEO, said that there is "plenty of room for everyone... we'll have a better schedule, better price." A PR answer; it'll be interesting to see how things develop in the next year.

BE404
The routing of the first flight. Image: Flightradar24.

Stay aware: Sign up for my weekly new routes newsletter.

I paid £39.98

When Flybe opened for bookings, it offered routes from an introductory base fare of £19.99 one-way, excluding optional extras.

As you'd expect, the carrier's minimum fare (regardless of route) subsequently rose to £29.99 one-way and is now from £34.99.

The minimum base fare is £69.98 return, even on the quickest hops. Let's hope it goes some distance to the new Flybe being more sustainable than its predecessor.

While I paid £39.98 for my Birmingham-Belfast day trip, that climbed to £172.98 a week before departure and to £372.98 the day before. The outbound flight was keenly priced at £271.99. It was full, obviously from lots of demand for the inaugural departure.

Discover more aviation news.

Hi, I'm Dave!

It's always great to be on a first flight, and today was no exception. There was a real, excitable atmosphere with balloons, stickers, a goody bag, biscuit, water arch, dignitaries, and more.

It was mainly full of avgeeks, management, people who have helped the company start, and suppliers' representatives.

There was also the carrier's American CEO, who went around to everyone, introduced himself with a cheerful, "Hi, I'm Dave!", and asked if anyone had questions.

While the Q400 is somewhat claustrophobic, especially if you're tall and the flight is full, it was nonetheless sufficiently comfortable with a good amount of legroom. The blue skylight helped.

Flybe launch
Speaking to Flybe's CEO, Dave Pflieger. Photo: James Pearson - Simple Flying.

Complimentary refreshments

The original Flybe had a buy onboard (BOB) product, in keeping with most others and as you'd expect. However, the new Flybe's first flight had complimentary refreshments of tea, coffee, juice, and biscuits.

Surprisingly, I was told by the cabin crew that refreshments will remain inclusive (so no BOB) for the foreseeable future. This is intriguing given the cost of providing them and the short duration of the majority of Flybe's flights.

Are you planning to fly Flybe this year? Let us know in the comments.