The regional airline Flybe has to cut the winter flight schedule 2022/2023. According to company information, there is not enough capacity available due to late handovers of leased aircraft. Mainly connections from Belfast City are affected by the cutback.

The carrier repeatedly had to cancel announced routes or reduce frequencies this year because aircraft were handed over later than contractually agreed. That should be the reason this time too. These are machines that are obtained from lessors. You also have to paint at London Heathrow Airport, where take-off and landing rights are particularly sought after. The connection to/from Leeds, operated three times a day, cannot be continued because the aircraft required for it is not available.

Belfast City Airport has been hit hardest by the reductions. From this airport, the existing routes will be thinned out or some routes will be paused. For the time being, the reductions should only be of a temporary nature, because a few weeks later they will be found again in the reservation system.

The company told The Irish Times: "Further unexpected delays in already scheduled aircraft deliveries have forced Flybe to make the difficult decision of reducing some of our scheduled winter flights. We would like to apologize again for these unexpected flight schedule changes and thank everyone affected for their understanding and patience with the delays in the delivery of our leased aircraft."