An Office of Fair Trading announcement is waited upon with every indication that the merger will be implemented in time for the summer season
Strong rumours circulated last week that the Office of Fair Trading is satisfied that the acquisition of most of BA Connect by Flybe is not against the public interest, although an official announcement is still waited upon.
Assuming there is a positive result, for practical purposes the merger will be consummated for the start of the summer season 25 March, although technically it will probably happen some weeks earlier providing some outstanding issues relating to ground crew and pilots are sorted out.
The new, and much larger Flybe, is an amalgamation of predecessor Jersey European, which called it self British European for a short time, and the BA-owned City Flyer Express, British Regional Airlines, Brymon Airways, and Manx Airlines, all purchased at the start of Rod Eddington”s reign.
The new business will have a turnover of £600m-a-year business ($1.2bn) and increase Flybe's present annual passenger throughput from 6m ($11.7m) to almost 10m ($19.5m) a year.
Although financial terms of the takeover have not been revealed British Airways announced a write-down of £106m ($207m) on the value of BA Connect last November.
Willie Walsh has admitted that it will also provide an unspecified sum for what is termed "investment in the business”. In return British Airways will take a 15% stake in Flybe.
The acquisition does not include BA Connect's re-branded London City operation, or the Manchester - New York Boeing 767 route.
With the take-over the proposed Flybe London Stock Exchange floatation has been put on hold and is now not expected take place until 2008/2009.