A first for Flybe from Aberdeen base

Flybe has announced that – following a recruitment drive earlier in the year – its first ever Aberdeen flight crewed by an all-Aberdeen-based crew takes to the Scottish skies this month on its popular London Gatwick service.

Flight BE7291/2 will be crewed by Captain Aidan Bell; First Officer Alex van der Veer and the three cabin crew Gary Duncan, Laura Anne Stevenson and Nicola Redgrave all of whom live in Aberdeen.

Mike Rutter, Flybe’s Chief Commercial Officer says: “We’ve always stressed our commitment to enhance the regional economies within which we operate. We are always particularly keen to cultivate ‘home grown’ employees so are absolutely delighted to have reached the point when, in fairly record time, we witness today the very first Aberdeen flight crewed entirely by staff living in the area.”

In spite of the many economic challenges facing the aviation industry and the wider economy, Flybe is successfully continuing to build a bigger and stronger airline allowing it more opportunities to develop routes and encourage further business to Scotland.

This year, Flybe has started operating three brand new routes from its Aberdeen base – London Gatwick, Jersey and Southampton adding affordable choices to a wide range of destinations from its Grampian base that includes Belfast City, Birmingham, Exeter, Leeds Bradford and to Sumburgh with new franchise partner, Loganair.

“We have long term plans for Scotland,” adds Mr Rutter. “We will continue to explore all possibilities for expanding our services, anticipating the needs of the travelling public and adapting and enhancing our operation in response to what our customers want.”