Actors airline may face penalties

Flybe was 172 passengers short with the deadline approaching

Budget airline Flybe, which advertised for actors to fly between Norwich and Dublin to boost passenger numbers, may be penalised, an airport has warned.

The airline took the step to avoid a �280,000 penalty charge from Norwich airport if it did not carry 15,000 passengers on the route by 31 March.

The airport criticised Flybe's tactics and said even if it meets the passenger target it may still face a charge.

Exeter-based Flybe called the airport "intransigent and greedy".

Flybe was concerned it was falling 172 passengers short of a target imposed by Norwich International Airport as part of a commercial deal.

'Last-minute flights'

But Norwich airport said they may not pay the rebate even if Flybe met the target because of the airline's tactics.

Managing director Richard Jenner said managers would speak to their Flybe counterparts: "We will have to have discussions with them about whether or not some of the passengers are bona fide."

As well as advertising for "extras" on a website, Flybe also laid on additional last-minute flights, offered the public free trips and placed its own staff on stand-by to fly in case seats were not filled.

Flybe said it had decided against using actors after placing the advertisement.

But one woman boarding a Flybe plane at Norwich on Monday said she was a "model" and had been paid to fly to Dublin and back.

"I am with a modelling agency. They called me over the weekend offering me a job, so I took it," said Suzanne Moore, 28.

'Unusual move'

"We have got to get off the plane and then come straight back here."

Other passengers were also seen landing at Norwich then reboarding a Dublin-bound plane.

Environmental campaign group Friends of the Earth said Flybe's tactics were "madness" and doing pointless damage to the atmosphere.

A Flybe spokesman has said the company regretted the "unusual" move but the "ridiculous, intransigent and downright greedy attitude" of Norwich Airport had left it with no option.

The airline said it would "offset" additional carbon emissions and had not needed to use actors to fill seats.

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