Council Leader welcomes Government support for Flybe

Published: 15 January 2020

Council Leader Phil Bialyk has welcomed Government support for Exeter-based airline Flybe which secures the immediate future for more than 1,000 staff in the city.

The City Council will continue to work with other local authorities in the region to help support the airline, which has its headquarters at Exeter Airport.

The Government announced that it had reached a deal that will keep Flybe operating, and also agreed to review the future of £26 air passenger duties on domestic flights.

Cllr Phil Bialyk, Leader of Exeter City Council, said: “I am absolutely delighted with the announcement. There are 2,400 people throughout the country, and over 1,000 here in Exeter, who were worrying about their jobs with the loss of Flybe. I am so pleased that the Government has seen sense and is supporting them.

“It is not an ailing industry, it is an industry that has been affected widely by a number of factors. But I am so pleased for those families who in this moment now know that their jobs are secure.

“We are working together with the Leader of Devon County Council and the leader of East Devon District Council, to see what else we can do, in our own little way as local authorities, to support that business and the jobs it creates, and I am so pleased about that.”