Anger over Flybe antics to avoid £280,000 fine
29.03.08
Flybe advertised for actors to fly back and forth between Norwich Airport and Dublin in an effort to boost passenger numbers and avoid a £280,000 penalty, according to press reports. The budget airline is also said to have laid on extra flights, offered the public free trips and placed staff on standby to fly in case it did not meet the passenger number target.
The airline took the steps after failing to reach agreement with Norwich Airport on the terms of a deal on passenger numbers. Airport bosses criticised Flybe for pointlessly damaging the environment, whilst Flybe blamed airport bosses, saying they were ‘intransigent and greedy’.
The terms of the deal meant Norwich Airport would impose a £280,000 penalty if Flybe did not carry 15,000 passengers on the Norwich - Dublin route during the 2007-08 financial year. Flybe was 172 passengers short with the March 31 deadline approaching, and so took the steps to ensure it met the contracted figure.
A spokesman for Flybe said it would offset additional carbon emissions it had caused and that it had not needed to use actors to meet the passenger number target.
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