FLYBE is to ramp-up the number of flights from Southampton Airport in a bid to cash in on the travel disruption caused by striking British Airways staff.

BA cabin crew plan to strike over 20- days between May 18 and June 9 hitting the travel plans for thousands of passengers.

While the strike is a public relations disaster for BA, coming after a previous strike in March and so soon after the travel chaos of the volcanic ash cloud, it’s likely to trigger a sales bonanza for Flybe.

However the airline has to steer a careful course publicly because BA owns 15 per cent of the company. The stake is a legacy of the transformational deal that saw Flybe swallow BA’s regional airline BA Connect in 2007.

Flybe bosses will be swapping the 78 seat Q400 aircraft that usually operate from Southampton for bigger 118-seat Embraer planes, dramatically increasing its usual capacity on strike days.

A spokesman said: “In order to give passengers impacted by the second planned British Airways strike action over 20 days between May 18 and June 9, a reliable and great value alternative yet again, Flybe can confirm it has increased the seats available on a number of our UK and regional European routes.

“Additionally, Flybe has upped the number of seats available for purchase from Southampton, Birmingham and Manchester to a range of destinations to assist BA customers who otherwise might fly from Heathrow or Gatwick including Paris Charles de Gaulle and Frankfurt.”

Flybe has its biggest UK base at Southampton Airport, where it employs 250 people and is the biggest carrier.