UK’s flybe. takes first Dash 8-Q400 for restart

flybe. (Birmingham Int’l) has taken delivery of its first DHC-8-Q400 ahead of its planned restart early next year.

G-JECX (msn 4155) was ferried from Maastricht to Exeter on November 5, 2021, already in the start-up’s new livery and, after maintenance, onwards to the carrier’s future base at Birmingham Int’l on November 25, 2021, Flightradar24 ADS-B data shows. Since then, the 14.8-year old turboprop has been operating test flights between Birmingham and Exeter.

The aircraft is owned by Nordic Aviation Capital and was operated by flybe. (2002) in its previous iteration through March 2020, the ch-aviation fleets history module shows.

flybe. initially secured its first Dash 8 in early 2021. However, G-CLXC (msn 4014) remained parked at Exeter airport from March to August 2021 and was subsequently ferried back to Canada. It was deregistered from the United Kingdom on September 10, 2021, and was inducted by PAL Airlines (Canada) in early October 2021.

The airline, now backed by Cyrus Capital, plans to launch in early 2022 with an all-De Havilland Aircraft of Canada fleet, although it has yet to disclose how many aircraft it wants to operate in the first phase.