London Heathrow based Fly UK Virtual Airways (UKV/Skyways) launched updated schedules for their Mainstream division last week. The schedule update sees a complete review of aircraft basing and the route network which now sees the airline flying a fleet of 186 aircraft to 224 destinations from 9 UK bases.

CEO Richard Jones comments “We have aimed to bring a greater degree of realism to our route network whilst at the same time trying to ensure there is a good selection and variety of routes available.”

Key features of the new schedule include:
- Frequent flights to winter favourites such as Innsbruck and Chambery. Innbruck is daily from all bases except London City. FLY2 flights operated by B737 and B752 on alternate days. Chambery (3 flights/week from Gatwick, London City, Manchester, Birmingham and Edinburgh.

- Highland Connection. Now re-branded as ‘Highland Connect’ with a new livery rolled out across the fleet.  Aberdeen has been added as a ‘focus city’ with new routes. Three BAe Jetstream 41s have been purchased and added to the HC fleet: 2 based at Aberdeen and one at Edinburgh.

- Flights to ‘simmers favorites’ such as Madeira & Gibraltar. Madeira is daily from Gatwick and 3-4 flights/week from Stansted, Liverpool, Edinburgh and Leeds. Gibraltar is daily from Heathrow and Gatwick and 3-4 flights/week from Manchester and Birmingham.

- Heathrow – All our jet types are based here. For those who like to fly the B777 on shorter routes 3 flights/week have been introduced to Rome, as well as some inter-island flights in the Caribbean including St Maarten. Long haul flights to Far East including India, Japan and Australia have also been revised with some new routes.

- Gatwick – Now home to A320 and A321 for short and medium haul with B777s for long haul.

- London City – routes and frequencies revised to comply with operational hours.

- Birmingham – A320 and A321s have been relocated leaving 2 x B738s and 4 Dash 8s.

- Manchester – Now home to just 3 a/c types: Dash 8 and B738 for short and medium haul and B763 for long haul.

- Edinburgh – As well as the Highland Connect a/c, home to A320s and 1 B763 flying alternate days to New York and Toronto.

- Cargo – The fleet remains unchanged but a completely revised route network has been introduced including some short haul flights for the MD11-F and B747F throughout the week.

To find out more visit www.flyuk.aero

Codeshare Status:

It has been 6 months since we started our historic codeshare agreement with MetroAir, we’re not quite sure where the time has gone; what we do know however, is that the agreement has been incredibly popular for both groups of pilots. With that in mind, we’re pleased to announce that the codeshare agreement will continue. This continuation has seen the introduction of some new flights from a variety of MetroAir bases. The Embraer fans amongst us will also be pleased to hear that a selection of E170 flights have been added to our selection.

So what can you expect from our continued partnership with MetroAir? As previously stated, we have introduced the Embraer into the schedules, increased the number of daily Dash 8 Q400 flights and built on the already existing Airbus A319 flights, this will lead to a selection of flights available from a variety of Metro’s hubs and focus cities including flights to Detroit, Tampa, Charlotte, Sint Maarten and Honolulu but to name a few. We also have access to flights in the new Airbus A330-300!

The new codeshare schedule will be available from the 1st June.

Highland Connection Update:

We’re taking the connection out of the Highlands this Summer as we’re pleased to announce that Highland Connection (operated by Fly UK) has been awarded a contract by the Scilly Islands Travel Commission tooperate flights on their behalf for the upcoming busy tourist season.

We will be basing a single Twin Otter on the island of St Mary’s until the 31st October. Until that point, the aircraft will operate numerous daily flights between the island and the mainland. Destinations include, Lands End, Newquay, Exeter and Bristol.

Normal Highland Connect schedules will not be affected. These flights will be available from the 1st June.

Visit FlyUK online at http://flyuk.aero

freshJet previously operated a single leased 757 in 2011, when a deal was made with Liverpool-based low cost airline Skylines.

Upon returning to owner Fly UK, the aircraft are expected to re-enter service with low-cost subsidiary Fly2.

Fly UK is about to embark on an ambitious new development plan to reaffirm our position as the UK’s leading virtual airline. We need the very best people to join our team to help us achieve our goals. We’ve launched our biggest staff recruitment drive since Fly UK’s inception in April 2004 and we are looking for creative, passionate people with drive and enthusiasm to help us shape the future of Fly UK.

We’re looking for people to join us in the following positions:

• Operations Manager
• Online Operations Manager
• Marketing Manager
• Graphic Designer
• Web Developer

If you’re interested in becoming part of the staff team, visit our recruitment page to find out more and apply.