Sky: “Virgin Atlantic in talks to acquire Flybe”
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Sky News is reporting this evening that Virgin Atlantic is in talks to acquire Flybe. See their report here.
As we covered last week in some detail – see here for example – the airline has invited offers of interest from other airlines or investment groups.
There is obviously some logic in a deal, although less than you might think. Flybe sold the bulk of its Gatwick slots of easyJet in 2013 so there is a limit to how much ‘feed’ it can provide to Virgin Atlantic there. Flybe has routes from Aberdeen and Edinburgh to Heathrow (which Virgin used to run under the Little Red brand) and will start Newquay to Heathrow next year.
More importantly, Flybe is already a Virgin Atlantic codeshare partner on many routes, especially out of Manchester. Here is the Virgin Atlantic / Flybe codeshare list. I would be very surprised if other rumoured bidders such as Stobart would end these deals, although I accept that Virgin Atlantic may believe that the modest cost of buying Flybe means it is not worth taking the risk.
The codeshare only covers a small part of the Flybe route network, however. Unless there is an opportunity to gain a large number of new slots at Gatwick it is difficult to see how much extra feed Flybe could bring if it was wholly owned by Virgin Atlantic.
Virgin Atlantic is also in the middle of a restructuring of its own, with Air France KLM in the final stages of acquiring a 31% stake. This has already had to be overhauled once in order to deal with the carve-out of the assets of Virgin Flying Club into the new Virgin Group Loyalty Company, in which Air France KLM will have no stake.
We come to Avios. It isn’t clear how much business the use of Avios drives to Flybe, but the airline clearly believes it is worthwhile or it would not be continuing with the deal. We can be 99.9% sure than the acquisition of Flybe by Virgin Atlantic would see it drop Avios and adopt Virgin Flying Club miles as its loyalty currency which is likely to be a minor negative.
Fun and games ….. let’s see how the situation unfurls over the next few days.
How to earn Virgin Points from UK credit cards (September 2023)
As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Virgin Points from UK credit cards. Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses.
You can choose from two official Virgin Atlantic credit cards (apply here, the Reward+ card has a bonus of 15,000 Virgin Points):
SPECIAL OFFER: The sign-up bonus on the Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard is doubled to 30,000 Virgin Points if you apply by 2nd October. You receive 15,000 Virgin Points with your first purchase and a further 15,000 points if you spend £3,000 within 90 days. Apply here.
Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard
30,000 bonus points (SPECIAL OFFER TO 2ND OCTOBER) and 1.5 points for every £1 you spend Read our full review
Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard
A generous earning rate for a free card at 0.75 points per £1 Read our full review
You can also earn Virgin Points from various American Express cards – and these have sign-up bonuses too.
American Express Preferred Rewards Gold is FREE for a year and comes with 20,000 Membership Rewards points, which convert into 20,000 Virgin Points.
American Express Preferred Rewards Gold
Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review
The Platinum Card from American Express comes with 30,000 Membership Rewards points, which convert into 30,000 Virgin Points.
The Platinum Card from American Express
30,000 points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review
Small business owners should consider the two American Express Business cards. Points convert at 1:1 into Virgin Points.
American Express Business Platinum
40,000 points bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review
American Express Business Gold
20,000 points sign-up bonus and free for a year Read our full review
Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Virgin Points.
(Want to earn more Virgin Points? Click here to see our recent articles on Virgin Atlantic and Flying Club and click here for our home page with the latest news on earning and spending other airline and hotel points.)
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