Birmingham to lose bmibaby services as airline goes into review
BIRMINGHAM Airport will lose two of its most popular services next month when bmibaby flights to Knock and Amsterdam cease.
The flights are ending as a review takes place into the future of the loss-making bmibaby service following the sale last month of its parent airline bmi to British Airways-owner International Airlines Group. Consultations with trade unions representing bmibaby staff have already begun.
IAG has consistently said that bmibaby and bmi Regional are not part of its long-term plans.
bmi said progress had been made with a potential buyer for bmi Regional, but so far nothing had been agreed on what would happen to bmibaby, despite many attempts by former owner Lufthansa and now IAG to find a solution.
bmibaby has therefore started a consultation to look at future options including, subject to that consultation, a proposal to close the airline in September this year.
Peter Simpson, bmi interim managing director, said: “We recognise that these are unsettling times for bmibaby employees, who have worked tirelessly during a long period of uncertainty.
“bmibaby has delivered high levels of operational performance and customer service, but has continued to struggle financially, losing more than £100m in the last four years. In the consultation process, we will need to be realistic about our options.
“To help stem losses as quickly as possible and as a preliminary measure, we will be making reductions to bmibaby’s flying programme from June. We sincerely apologise to all customers affected and will be providing full refunds and doing all we can with other airlines to mitigate the impact of these changes.”
The changes mean that all bmibaby flights to and from Belfast will cease from June 11, although this will not affect bmi mainline’s services to London Heathrow. bmibaby services from East Midlands to Amsterdam, Paris, Geneva, Nice, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Newquay, and from Birmingham to Knock and Amsterdam, will cease on the same date.
bmi said people could continue to book summer holiday flights from East Midlands and Birmingham and full details would be on its website.
The proposal is that all bmibaby flights scheduled for departure from Monday September 10, 2012 onwards will no longer operate and these flights are no longer available to book. However, this could change should a buyer be found.
