RE: Telegraph15 Nov 2018 11:40
Ryanair has been named as a possible significant beneficiary — though an unlikely outright buyer — from an expected sale of British regional airline Flybe.
Reports in the UK media have suggested Flybe is seeking a sale or a merger with a rival, although the airline is yet to confirm this. Its shares rocketed nearly 30% on the news.
Flybe is likely to be looking for a trade buyer, according to Goodbody aviation analyst Mark Simpson. He said it would be unlikely to attract a big-name player as an outright buyer, but larger carriers such as Ryanair, British Airways and EasyJet are all likely to be interested in profitable individual parts of the Flybe business.
Likely to be of particular attraction to Ryanair would be Flybe’s landing slots at Manchester, Birmingham, Edinburgh and Schiphol airports. Flybe has a third of the slots at Birmingham, 19% of those at Manchester, 18% at Edinburgh - where Ryanair has been building a presence to the detriment of its exposure to Glasgow — and 2% of landing area at Amsterdam.
Flybe’s slots at Heathrow are likely to appeal to British Airways acorsing to Mr Goodbody - I doubt they qould be allowed them as BA had to give them to Flybe for free in the first place.