CEO Update

[UKV1412 - Richard Jones]

News from ‘behind the scenes’ at Fly UK

 

I thought it was time for an update on a number of issues our hard-working staff have in hand.

 

Fleet:

 

·         Simulators and JS41. The freeware Jetstream 41 package has now been released for FSX (link: https://flyuk.aero/en/index.php?page=aircraft_profile&type=JS41&div=Schedule). Unfortunately, we have not been able to source a model for FS2004 and it is becoming increasingly difficult to support this simulator.  The FSX model is not up to the standards we aim to achieve and we will bear this in mind with future changes to the fleet; as we are keen to continue providing freeware packages for those new to flight simming or on a limited budget.  The better news is that we are aiming to provide support for P3D subject to some conditions which will be announced soon as well as continuing to increase our support for X-Plane.

·         Regional Jet. Fly UK has not had a regional jet in the fleet for some time, although we have previously operated the Embraer E170, E190 Fokker 100 and the Bae 146.  We are in discussions regarding the acquisition of some CRJ700 aircraft.  Details are yet to be finalised, however we envisage 2 aircraft joining initially at Birmingham to take over the B738 routes.

·         Cargo fleet and base.  We are looking to modernise our cargo fleet and aiming to start this with the acquisition of 2 B777F aircraft over the summer, replacing 2 of the MD11Fs.  We are also considering moving some or all of our cargo fleet to be based at East Midlands airport. More news soon.

 

Operations:

 

·         Summer schedules. The summer schedules are in draft and will be reviewed over the next week. Expect an update shortly.

·         Fly 2 overseas base. We are in discussions regarding basing a couple of Fly 2 B737-700 aircraft at Palma, Majorca for the summer.  Routes would serve holiday traffic from Germany, northern Europe and some the UK airports we currently do not operate from.  We will finalise the plans after the summer schedules go live and expect more news after that.

·         New franchise operation.  We are in discussions regarding a new franchise operation operating regional routes with turboprops in Europe.  We have quite a lot of work still to complete on this, but we have taken on Kevin Peeters, UKV2982, as a staff member to help develop this further.

 

Staff: response to the recent PR asking for staff volunteers was very encouraging. The Exec Team will be interviewing candidates over the next few weeks and I will give a full staff update once complete.  As well as the items above we have some other projects under consideration and the new staff should give us the momentum to move forward.

 

 

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For further information, please do not hesitate to contact us:

 

Richard Jones

CEO

Email: richard.jones[at]flyuk.aero