Stobart Air is to fly two Flybe Embraer E195 jets under a new agreement.
The pair of aircraft will be based at Stobart-owned Southend airport under a “combined commercial arrangement” for up to 20 months.
Flybe will initially operate the aircraft on behalf of Stobart under a crewed “wet lease” arrangement.
Stobart will then start operating the aircraft itself from January 1, 2018.
The aircraft will be operated in Flybe colours under an existing franchise agreement between the two companies.
Previously known as Aer Arann, Stobart Air runs a fleet of 19 regional aircraft on behalf of Flybe and Aer Lingus Regional serving destinations across the UK, Ireland and Europe from hubs at Cork, Dublin, the Isle of Man and Southend.