Flybe has announced it will be renamed Virgin Connect from 2020.
Flybe was bought by the Connect Airways group - with Virgin Atlantic a part of the consortium, along with Stobart Group and Cyrus Capital - and the airline will run as an independent company under the Virgin brand. The overall re-brand scheduled to be completed next year.
Connect Airways CEO, Mark Anderson, said: "We are hugely excited by this milestone in our airline’s 40-year history. We will remain true to our heritage and reason for being, which is offering essential regional connectivity to local communities.
"At its heart, Virgin Connect will be passionately focused on becoming Europe's most loved and successful regional airline. It will offer travel that is simple and convenient with the personal touch.
"Our customers will naturally expect the same exceptional travel experience as they do with other Virgin-related brands. Whatever their reason for flying, we want our customers to feel loved and know we will always put their needs first in every decision we take.
"As part of the Virgin family, we now have a tremendously re-energised team. From here on in, we invite our customers, partners and the communities we serve to join us on every step of this exciting journey."
The Virgin Connect website says that bookings won’t be affected and to visit flybe.com to continue to book flights, check in and manage bookings. The website adds: We’ll be saying goodbye to purple and hello to red.
Flybe closed its jet base at Cardiff Airport at the end of the summer season. And the winter schedule saw a number of routes taken away from the airport
Flights to Rome, Verona, Venice, Faro, Munich, and Berlin were all cut from Flybe's winter schedule which started this October. The remaining routes are serviced by Flybe's Bombardier turboprop Q400, which has a capacity for 78 passengers.