Taken from the FlyBE website. Probably a little late for anyone to take advantage.
Final Flybe 146 flight marks end of an era
17 October 2008
Flybe, Europe’s largest and most successful regional airline, is to mark the passing of an era on Sunday October 26 by offering enthusiasts the opportunity to fly on its very last BAe 146 flight when the aircraft makes its final positioning flight from Guernsey to Exeter. Not only will this be Flybe’s last 146 flight but the end of what is currently the only scheduled jet service operating to and from the island.
Tickets are on sale now at £31.99 one way including taxes and airport charges and are selling fast. To further mark the historic event, with Flybe finally bidding farewell to this aircraft model and move one step closer to becoming a two-type aircraft fleet, passengers will receive a photograph of the aircraft signed by the last crew.Flybe introduced the 146 jet series into Guernsey in 1995 with the 70-seat 100-series before moving on to the 200 series and finally the 112-seat 300-series that has been operating on the route since 2002. The 146 was especially suited to Guernsey as it has a particularly good short field performance on both departure and arrival, as indeed does the Embraer 195 that Flybe had hoped to replace it with.
Mike Rutter, Flybe’s Chief Commercial Officer says: “The 146 was a wonderful workhorse in its day but times have moved on with volatile oil prices and concerns around noise and environmental issues making its continued service unsustainable.”
“We had hoped to continue offering our Guernsey passengers a continued jet aircraft service with our new 118-seat state of the art Embraer 195 that, with its comfortable 2×2 seat configuration, has proved so popular on several of our other key routes. However, this has proved not to be.”
“Nevertheless, we bid a fond farewell to the last Flybe 146 as the aircraft departs our fleet for good – and formally welcome the Q400 turboprop into service that, although smaller, has become the mainstay of our new environmentally sensitive, fuel efficient fleet.”
“We realise that the 146 means a lot to enthusiasts and, to meet requested demand, are therefore pleased to offer them a chance to be a part of history and mark the passing of an era by flying on this final historic flight, both for Flybe and for Guernsey.”
Anyone know why the Emb195 at GCI “has proved not to be.”?
1L.
By: wysiwyg - 30th October 2008 at 17:07
Yes, the Noise and Vibration Suppression system (NVS) was introduced on the Dash 8 turboprop family in 1996. Basically, a microphone picks-up external noises (air from the propeller hitting the fuselage) inverts the signal and broadcasts this signal back into the airframe – essentially cancelling the incoming noise. Similar to the Active Noise Reduction in pilot headsets.
It gets a bit more complicated when you have two out-of-sync engines, but with modern FADEC engines it isn’t nearly as problematic as previous EEC/manual systems.
Wasn’t this standard on the Saab 340 B+ and Saab 2000 before it appeared on the Dash?
Also just done a bit of research into the PCN (pavement classification number) for the hard surfaces at Guernsey and the ACN (aircraft classification number) for the EMB-195. It would seem that the max take off weight would have to be reduced from 59 tonnes to approx 57 tonnes. It looks like this has always been the case with 737 ops from EGJB but perhaps they have more flexibility in their payload capabilities to accommodate.
By: Arabella-Cox - 29th October 2008 at 15:04
Never see the wee things at Gatwick but when I was up at Glasgow last week I seen a BAE146 in British Airways colours.
By: Arabella-Cox - 29th October 2008 at 15:03
Aparently Edingburgh still has them as well
Yup. CityJet and BA Connect have regular flights there.
By: garryrussell - 29th October 2008 at 14:53
Aparently Edingburgh still has them as well
By: FLY.BUY - 29th October 2008 at 10:50
BAE 146
London City LCY must be the last strong hold of the BAE 146; Still plenty of them around to fly in from this airport.
By: Arabella-Cox - 28th October 2008 at 22:45
Th Q400 does have the piped system to cancel the noise out
As to the last Guernsey…not exactly selling well.
The flight left with only 18 seats sold
http://www.thisisguernsey.com/2008/10/27/146-flies-out-with-most-seats-empty/
I might have gone had I known a few weeks earlier. 🙁 Ah well, I flew on one back in 2006, so atleast I can say I have been on one.
By: garryrussell - 28th October 2008 at 21:45
Th Q400 does have the piped system to cancel the noise out
As to the last Guernsey…not exactly selling well.
The flight left with only 18 seats sold
http://www.thisisguernsey.com/2008/10/27/146-flies-out-with-most-seats-empty/
By: PMN - 28th October 2008 at 21:25
I always thought that was because they pipe the noise into the cabin. When the flaps travel the noise in the cabin is incredible.
1L.
Am I right in remembering reading somewhere the Q-400 has a similar system or am I getting confused… Again?
Paul
By: OneLeft - 28th October 2008 at 20:36
The 146 was THE quietest jet airliner going.
I always thought that was because they pipe the noise into the cabin. When the flaps travel the noise in the cabin is incredible.
1L.
By: bri - 28th October 2008 at 10:49
Don’t understand the comment about noise. The 146 was THE quietest jet airliner going.
When I worked at Hatfield, the demo aircraft did aerobatics (yes, aerobatics!) above our office for the benefit of potential customers, and you couldn’t hear them over the road traffic!
Also, when an aircraft arrived at the maintenance hangar, after a flight, the technicians in the hangar workshops had to be informed that it had arrived several minutes ago and “why weren’t they out there to see to it?”
Bri :confused:
By: Arabella-Cox - 26th October 2008 at 11:14
The EMB 145’s are slowly being replaced by new Dash8 Q400’s and E195’s so not sure the timescale would permit them to use the remaining E145’s just to keep the service going.
That, and the E145s are considerably smaller than the 146.
When I was at LGW the other week I saw what must be for me the last FlyBe 146 I’ll ever see. Unfortunately it was about 10 minutes after I’d left my spot. 🙁
By: cloud_9 - 26th October 2008 at 09:47
What about the EMB-145, it can make LCA so is there a chance it can do Guernsey?
The EMB 145’s are slowly being replaced by new Dash8 Q400’s and E195’s so not sure the timescale would permit them to use the remaining E145’s just to keep the service going.
By: JetSet - 26th October 2008 at 09:38
What about the EMB-145, it can make LCA so is there a chance it can do Guernsey?
By: OneLeft - 25th October 2008 at 14:16
Thanks Deano.
I figured it would be something to do with the runway or similar, it just seemed strange that they “had hoped to continue offering our Guernsey passengers a continued jet aircraft” when the jet aircraft in question wasn’t able to operate from the airport.
I thought there might be another (more interesting) reason.
1L.
By: Deano - 25th October 2008 at 14:11
It’s too heavy for the main apron, also the runway isn’t grooved so there are issues when it’s wet & when icing conditions provail
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October 25, 2008 at 11:51 am