BA Connect - History

History

The company was incorporated on 26 January 1970 as Brymon Aviation Limited which operated as Brymon Airways. On 30 July 1993 the company was renamed Brymon Airways Limited to reflect the operating name.

The company was purchased by British Airways in 1993 and on 28 March 2002 it was merged with British Regional Airlines and was renamed British Airways Citiexpress Limited operating as British Airways Citiexpress.

The regional operations of British Airways at Birmingham and Manchester, and the operations of the former CityFlyer Express, were integrated into the new airline later in 2002.

On 1 February 2006 the airline was renamed BA Connect Limited operating as BA Connect and operations moved to a low-cost carrier model, with food sold via a 'buy on board' programme (except for flights to London City Airport). However, allocated seating and a baggage valet service was still available, while lounge access, tier points and BA Miles remained unaffected for those in the Executive Club. Operationally the new service came into effect on 26 March 2006.

BA Connect handled most of British Airways' domestic and European services that do not serve London Heathrow or Gatwick airports. It had hubs in Birmingham, Bristol, London City, Manchester and Southampton. From these locations the carrier operated services to several northwest European destinations and also to Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen. A few services also operated from Gatwick. In total, BA Connect flew from 17 airports in the UK and Ireland on 63 routes to major or central regional airports.

On 3 November 2006, British Airways chief executive said that he had reached an agreement for Flybe to purchase BA Connect. BA will ensure that Flybe has sufficient funding in order to achieve its growth targets and the transition out of current BA Connect fleet. In return BA will acquire a 15% stake in the new business. The acquisition (which does not include BA Connect routes to London City or from Manchester to New York) will significantly increase the Flybe route network in both the UK and continental Europe, making Flybe the largest regional airline in Europe. Retention of the London City routes will result in BA retaining the RJ100 aircraft for these domestic and European services.

BA had to pay Flybe a sum of money to take on the company due to Flybe actually taking on a company that will cost them money rather than make profits for the foreseeable future.

Much concern was made of the shedding of routes across Scotland, but Flybe have stated that BA Connect routes will be kept and expanded. On 6 March 2007 Flybe stated that they would not be operating any former BA Connect services from Bristol. Consequently the last flights on any of BA Connect's routes from Bristol was on 24 March 2007.