BMI to be sold off

[pollensafan]

I see lufthansea are selling their loss making bmi off. However this could turn out to be good news for all pp addicts. It turns out that they are going to put their efforts in to the " German wings" arm of the company and in their words " Give some stiff competition to easy jet and ryan air with some very competitive price's". Now bearing in mind the large holding they have in palma airport this could be a win win situation for us.

 

[cherylbb]

This has been on the cards since last September. BA owner IAG were meant to be buying, with Virgin waiting in the wings. Last I heard the regulators were looking at the deal as it involves Heathrow slots, with IAG having more than half the available landing slots at Heathrow if it went through. It was meant to be a done deal by April but I haven't heard anything lately, seems to have gone quiet atm.

 

[pollensafan]

Hi cherylbb, It came up again yesterday with the release of their trading figures for last year. Bmi is their biggest losing arm and for every person that travels on bmi they lose 50 euros.

 

[cherylbb]

Hi Pollensafan.
Blimey! Missed that, thanks. Hope it gets sorted soon. There was talk of including BMIBaby too as that is more for ''holiday flights'' rather than business & it looks like that is being bought by 'an unnamed UK based company'. Lots of offers on now. Thought it might be sorted by end of financial year but maybe not!

The currently published summer 2012 schedule would continue as planned and customers can continue to book flights via Bmibaby.com and the Bmibaby call centre.”
“The potential new owner plans to further develop the low fare network in the UK and Europe,” added Bmi.

 

[emmalou]

bmibaby will not be operating any flights from East Mids to Palma after Sept 10th!! We flew with them at Easter, and many times over the years ..... never had any problems. Will have to choose between Ryan Air and Jet2 in the future Flying with them at Half Term next month to Newquay ... turns out it is their last flight to Newquay!!! ... glad I hadn't booked a week later!!!!!

 

[pollensa]

Monarch steps in after Bmibaby closure announcement

Monarch is stepping in to fill the void left with the closure of loss-making Bmibaby with plans for a new base at East Midlands airport and expanded services from Birmingham.

The schedule leisure carrier is to open a new base at East Midlands from late summer by launching flights to holiday destinations, including Malaga, Alicante, Palma and Faro.

Monarch will expand operations from Birmingham by adding frequency on existing routes to Malaga, Alicante, Faro, Rome and Palma and start flights to Barcelona.

The move came as Bmibaby confirmed that all flights to and from Belfast will cease from June 11. Services from East Midlands to Amsterdam, Paris, Geneva, Nice, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Newquay, and from Birmingham to Knock and Amsterdam, will end on the same day.

The airline will be completely grounded from September 10 after new owner, British Airways parent IAG, failed to find a buyer for the BMI budget subsidiary.

....

BMI said progress has been made with a potential buyer for BMI Regional.

Monarch managing director Kevin George said: “In light of recent industry changes, opportunities have opened up in the market.

"It has become clear that the Midlands will be underserved as a region in the future, and that there is a lack of quality carriers to serve customers travelling from the area.

“As an airline with over 40 years heritage and a stronghold in the Midlands already, the expansion of our existing services from Birmingham and the launch of operations from East Midlands makes perfect sense for Monarch, and accelerates the strategy we announced last year to focus on the development of our scheduled operations into key leisure destinations across the Mediterranean, the Canaries and North Africa.”

He added: “The further expansion of our services from the Midlands will provide even more customers in the Midlands with choice and flexibility and protects jobs at East Midlands airport in the future,”

As reported in Travel Weekly

 

[cherylbb]

This is a good article for information if you have flights booked with BMIBaby.

Bmibaby: what are your rights? - Telegraph