Flybe sells off two new aircraft

Regional airline Flybe has sold two Bombardier Q400 aircraft to a Johannesburg-based bank, which will lease them to South African Express.

The aircraft, which were bought new earlier this year and have been in service since then, are among nine aircraft that Flybe has “earmarked for disposal or lease handback” in 2011-12. The airline’s Scots-born chief executive, Jim French, said: “Our policy of adjusting our fleet capacity is part of this strategic rationale of de-risking the business and balancing organic and acquisitive growth across the group.”