Jim French, Chairman and Managing Director of Flybe. has been voted the Airline Executive of the Year at the recent Regional Airline World Magazine Awards.
The award comes just days after the airline’s recent successes in the Holiday Which? survey, where flybe. was voted the most popular UK domestic and France-bound airline, making it a hat-trick of wins.

Voted for by the readers of Regional Airline Magazine, the ‘Airline Executive of the Year’ award was presented to the chairman in recognition of the achievements he and his team have made in transforming a traditional airline into a leading force in European Low Cost Aviation, achieving a substantial improvement in the company’s profitability.

Jim French heads up a team who in the past 2 years have transformed flybe. from a regional carrier to a dynamic, fast-growing and profitable new generation low-cost airline.Ê The airline reported half-year profits of £14m in November 2004, representing a £17.1m improvement on the prior half-year and a dramatic turnaround for the UK’s ‘national/regional’ airline.

Flybe. is the largest scheduled airline at Birmingham, Exeter, Southampton, the Channel Islands, and Belfast City andÊ is also the UK’s leading non-London-centric airline, offering 91 routes from 40 airports in 7 countries, with 30 new routes launched for this summer.

After last night’s ceremony Jim French commented: “I am delighted to have won this award but Flybe.‘s recent successes would not have been achievable alone. This recognition is testimony to the continued hard work and enduring efforts of our employees throughout the country.

“We set out in January of last year with the clear business plan of offering low fares and a high quality service from easily accessible regional airports, developing a network that has become the backbone of Britain, and accolades such as this prove that we are not only achieving our goals, we are surpassing them.
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