Confirmed today…Flybe has sold 25 pairs of take-off and landing slots at Gatwick to easyJet for £20m.

From The Telegraph:

Flybe sells Gatwick slots to easyJet for £20m

The airline has issued five profit warnings since it listed in 2010 and recently embarked on a cost-cutting plan. It has reduced its workforce by 22pc to 2,140, which along with the other steps helped the airline save £30m in costs this year.

Flybe said it had decided to sell following a 102pc increase in slot charges over the past five years by the airport’s owners. Global Infrastructure Partners bought Gatwick for £1.46bn in October 2009.

“It is the view of the board that the increase in charges, combined with the penalistic levels of Air Passenger Duty imposed on UK domestic airlines by successive Governments, have resulted in Flybe’s services to and from Gatwick becoming unsustainable in the long-term,” the company said.

Full article:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/transport/10075367/Flybe-sells-Gatwick-slots-to-easyJet-for-20m.html