Norwich

Flybe, Norwich City Council and the tale of the fake passengers

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Airplane!

For all its bluster and greenwash, the airline industry can't seem to shake its reputation for putting profit before the environment. This latest story will do the industry no favours: Flybe have been using every trick in the book to boost passenger numbers, including laying on free flights and offering to pay actors to pose as passengers.

Normally I'd be railing at them doing something so ridiculously un-environmental, but dig a little deeper and an even more incomprehensible story comes to light. The airline was pushing its passenger numbers up in order to escape a £280,000 penalty from the airport, owned by Norwich City Council, which punished the airline if it failed to get 15,000 people into the air.