Green fury as airline pays actors to fly so it can meet quotas

Published on Sunday 30 March 2008 22:01

BUDGET airline Flybe advertised for out-of-work actors to fly between Norwich and Dublin to boost its passenger numbers, it has emerged.

In a move that has outraged environmental campaigners, the airline proposed paying them 80 in order to meet a target of 15,000 passengers on the route by today. Flybe has also placed its own staff on stand-by to fill seats on extra flights being put on in an attempt to hit the agreed target.

The airline said it had taken the action to avoid a 140,000 penalty from Norwich airport. It had agreed with the airport to fly at least 15,000 passengers on the Norwich-Dublin route in the year to the end of this month, but found it was 172 people short by Saturday.

Flybe laid on extra flights, offered 200 free tickets, advertised for "extras" on an actors' website and told staff they might need to fly to Ireland, too.

Friends of the Earth condemned the move as "madness" while Norwich airport accused the airline of pointlessly damaging the environment.

However, Flybe said it had been forced to take the action by the airport's "ridiculous, intransigent and downright greedy attitude".

The Flybe advertisement stated: "Extras needed for paid work flying to Dublin."

It said more than 100 were needed and would be paid more than 80 a day. "You will be boarding an aircraft and flying to Dublin and then flying back into Norwich airport," it read. "There may be up to three flights during each day."

Tony Bosworth, Friends of the Earth's aviation campaigner, reacted with disbelief. He said: "How can it possibly make financial sense to lay on extra flights and pay people to go on them? Ministers must investigate the crazy economics of an industry where it can pay to needlessly pollute."

Richard Jenner, the airport's managing director, said: "It doesn't seem to be in the spirit of the agreement, but more than anything our concerns are about the unnecessary impact on the environment. We try here to justify the impact we have on the environment."

Two years ago, Flybe became the first airline to introduce charges for passengers checking in bags. Last year, The Scotsman revealed the airline had placed "no own food" warnings on in-flight menu cards, which were later withdrawn.

A spokeswoman for Flybe admitted yesterday it had "recruited temporary staff from a number of different agencies" and paid them.

She said the airline had offered to pay the airport 50,000 if it missed the passenger target, but the airport had demanded the full 140,000.

The spokeswoman said the dispute came despite Flybe flying 136,000 passengers from Norwich this year, nearly twice as many as the 70,000 minimum it had agreed with the airport.

She said: "The airline is not prepared in this time of high fuel prices to put Flybe jobs and services to Norwich at risk and therefore, with regret, has taken the unusual step of putting on two extra flights on Monday to meet the demands of Norwich International Airport.

"These flights will be full of normal fare-paying passengers. However, if we do not reach the 172 target, we will place temporary staff on to the flight to reach the airport's target. These temporary staff have been put on stand-by." The spokeswoman said the airline would offset all the extra carbon emissions caused by the flight.