Flybe

David Duguid Excerpts

Thursday 5th March 2020 Commons Chamber

[Kelly Tolhurst]

The hon. Gentleman will know that we have a fantastic Mayor in Teesside, and I have had discussions with him. One of the things we will be doing is making sure that, as I have said today, we are working really hard within the Department, talking to airlines and to the airports to make sure that we are able to provide and backfill some of those routes and that the airports remain as viable as possible.

[David Duguid (Banff and Buchan) (Con)]

Obviously my sympathies go out to the staff affected by the collapse of Flybe, and also the passengers affected in Banff and Buchan and throughout north-east Scotland, because a large number of its flights would have been serviced from Aberdeen. I know the Government are committed to levelling up regional connectivity across the whole United Kingdom, not least from discussions I have had recently with the Secretary of State specifically on the loss of other flights between Aberdeen and London: Flybe’s own flight to London City; Loganair’s to Southend, recently; and the easyJet flight to Gatwick last year. Can my hon. Friend confirm that she will work closely with the industry, the airports and the airlines to minimise the disruption caused by the loss of these Flybe routes?

[Kelly Tolhurst]

I understand my hon. Friend’s specific concerns, which we have spoken about before. As I have tried to describe from the Dispatch Box today, I am very keen to work with the airlines and those airports to understand the specific issues and challenges that we need to address to enable those routes and flights to continue. I look forward to working with my hon. Friend and colleagues.