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[Sherburnflyer92]

Re: British Midland International (BMI)

They combined both GLA/EDI evening services into one yesterday. Tbh, from going to a quite major regional hub to a combined service, shows the pi55 poor effort by BMI to keep LBA and to show commitment. I'd be quite glad to see the back of them. Get german regional's in to go to a few german cities, give Longair & Flybe the GLA-EDI services possibly even eastern, and think we'd be right.

 

[Bigman]

Re: British Midland International (BMI)

Agreed. And lets get Brussels Airlines back in on the Brussels while we are at it.

 

[whoshotjimmi]

Re: British Midland International (BMI)

I think Aviador is right to lament the bad decision making by BMI.

The seeds of what is happening now were sown many years ago. I can't help thinking back to the days when BA pulled out of Birmingham and Manchester. The likes of BMI should have been all over those operations like a rash. They would have been the leading force in British aviation. Since that opportunity was missed, we can look at the purchasing of the low capicity ERJ fleet to operate a large majority of their point to point routes when the aircraft is designed to connect into a large hub operation. The relative high costs of these aircraft left BMI unable to sustain the more marginal routes when the going got tough. They can't necessarily be blamed for the timing of various events but they ended up with a throughly unsuitable fleet at the wrong time and this led them to scale back enormously. Their indecision at the crucial times left them unable to compete. Lufthansa involvement has only worsened the situation. Their only interest in BMI was the Heathrow slots they occupied leaving BMI regional almost entirely without purpose.

To pick up on a comment made by Aviador regarding not being able to sustain a reasonable service between the cities - to add further to that, we now have Eastern with more flights per day with larger aircraft to Bristol and Aberdeen. Which, I think, shows just how far they have fallen.

I cannot stress enough how good this airline have been every time I have used them from LBA. The whole experience was a joy to behold. But, when it comes down to it, they are no longer suitable for LBA - regardless of how wonderful the premier lounge may be.

 

[Bigman]

Re: British Midland International (BMI)

But anyone can use the Premier Lounge now in any case.

 

[wawkrk]

Re: British Midland International (BMI)

Anyone could use the Business lounge in past if you were prepared to pay.

 

[User0001]

Re: British Midland International (BMI)

bmi regional have been in limbo, really since the Lufthansa purchase. As I think I posted before, the management at bmi regional do not see using expensive Embraers on UK domestic runs as a long term business plan and they haven't for some time. They do have alternative plans but they need the support of Lufthansa to implement these given it is they that actually own the business these days.

However, Lufthansa, as you might imagine, have got bigger things to worry about at the moment than bmi regional, given the mess bmi mainline are in, to cite just one of their worries. When one solution being actively considered is a full or partial sale of bmi, then Lufthansa can be forgiven for not investing time and money developing bmi regional.

So, if 40 passengers per day paying a fortune to travel between Leeds and Glasgow is enough to keep things ticking over, then Lufthansa are unlikely to be losing any sleep over the long term viability of this if they haven't decided whether it is a business they actually intend to own going forward. Of course this is has all been frustrating for the management at regional, the route development team at LBA and of course airlines like flybe and Eastern who believe their product would work well on LBA-GLA but are hesitant about competing because they don’t understand themselves what bmi may or may not do with the route.

So the recent news about EMA - FRA is an interesting development that might indicate this limbo is coming to end. It is exactly the type of route bmi regional do want to be operating and clearly it is a route they cannot operate without full and close partnership with Lufthansa. The question now is, is whether this is a signal that LH have given regional the green light to move ahead with this on a bigger scale. If so, I would expect similar announcements from other UK airports and news that domestic services operated by regional will start to be withdrawn; LBA-GLA/EDI will almost certainly go in this scenario

 

[tleeds]

Re: British Midland International (BMI)

Yet another BMIRegional - Brussels press release....
This one was posted onto Facebook around an hour ago.

[textarea]bmi Regional Brussels Event Takes Off

bmi Regional and Leeds Bradford Airport (LBA) hosted a briefing event with Timothy Kirkhope MEP aimed at businesses in the region who want to increase trading opportunities in Brussels.

Delegates heard from Steve Griffiths, Business development Director at bmi Regional and Tony Hallwood, Commercial Director at LBA, on the importance of links with Brussels, both commercially and from a political perspective.

Exhibitors included UKTI, Chamber International and visit Flanders.

The event at the Mint Hotel in Leeds follows a number of briefings with key stakeholders from the Leeds City Region on how to maximise opportunities for promoting Leeds in Belgium.
Marketing Leeds*, Leeds Bradford International Airport, bmi and UKTI will also host an event in Brussels in October to enable businesses to make contact with potential inward investors and facilitate links companies wishing to do business with the UK. There will also be an opportunity to showcase the City to Members of the European Parliament.

Why Brussels?
-Brussels is often described as the meeting place of Europe and is regarded as one of the most important international political and business centres.
-Brussels is also the administrative centre of the EU and the home of both the European Parliament and the headquarters of NATO.
-This almost unique position in world affairs means that many multinational companies are based base here, creating opportunities for SME’s supplying services to these larger corporates.

The Leeds Bradford to Brussels route operates twice daily, making it very convenient to do business with Belgium. bmi Regional have recently reduced the costs of flights significantly with prices starting at just £56, one way, including taxes and charges.[/textarea]

 

[lbaspotter]

Re: British Midland International (BMI)

Well guys. Lufthansa has officially put bmi british midland group up for sale as Morgan Stanley has now been appointed with the task off either the sale or break-up of the group.

British Airways are said to be looking at putting a bid in for bmi mainline's Heathrow slots while it's also rumoured that the Virgin group my look into it as well. I wonder who might consider taking over the bmi regional and bmi baby low cost divison's?

This will most likey have an effect on bmi operations out of LBA in the long run.

 

[Bigman]

Re: British Midland International (BMI)

Bye bye BMI I would reckon. GLA, EDI and BRU are minor routes nowadays in terms of passenger numbers so it wouldn't be a huge disaster. If these routes did go, maybe FR could come in and do Charleroi and Prestwick on the cheap.

 

[lbaspotter]

Re: British Midland International (BMI)

Bye bye BMI I would reckon. GLA, EDI and BRU are minor routes nowadays in terms of passenger numbers so it wouldn't be a huge disaster. If these routes did go, maybe FR could come in and do Charleroi and Prestwick on the cheap.

Hi Bigman

I get a feeling this will lead into Loganair/Flybe taking over the Leeds to Edinburgh and Glasgow routes at long last. They have held slots for both routes now for the last 3 years or so. Loganair using Saab 340's and operating under the Flybe.com brand will be able to drive down costs on both routes and offer a better time schedule.
I just can't see ryanair opening a Prestwick route as it would be to short of a service for them using a Boeing 737-800. Also once daily will be no good to anyone.

The Brussels service is a different situation as it has the Star Alliance connections with may just tempt SN Brussels back onto the route with 2x or 3x daily RJ85's hopefully. But like you say Ryanair could also look into offering a route to nearby Charleroi. But there again maybe even flybe using a Dash 8 would be a better option.

I do wonder what will happen with all the aircraft the own and operate as a group. You’ve got bmi mainline’s, Airbus A319, A320 & A321’s, bmi regional’s Embrear RJ135 & RJ145’s and bmi baby’s Boeing 737-300 & 737-500’s?

 

[whoshotjimmi]

Re: British Midland International (BMI)

So now Lufthansa haved gutted BMI of all their valuable assets they are selling off the remnants. It is hardly surprising. In fact, it is fantastic business - the slots that they will inevitably sell at Heathrow alone must be worth a small fortune. I think that they would like to sell them to someone other than BA however as that would bolster competition from LHR and potentially damage their own operation at FRA.

I just wonder whether FlyBe would be interested at all in the BMI regional operation? A number of the routes would fit nicely into the FlyBe network. Having said that, they could probably open up all the routes without the need to purchase BMIr. With that in mind, who would buy BMI? It is loss making, has no direction, all the wrong aircraft and its most valuable assets, the Heathrow slots, will not be part of the deal. It is far too late to restructure the airline as others have now cornered other markets.

With regards BMIBaby, I wonder if Easyjet or Jet2 might just snap those up? It would give them a presence at Birmingham and, in the case of Easyjet, another go at EMA, only this time with most of the choice routes to themselves.

To keep it on topic, I would think the BMI routes out of Leeds would be among the first to go. Loganair/FlyBe are already set up for the Scottish routes. Brussels is an important destination for LBA - indeed, the 3 daily rotation has survived throughout the BMI streamlining - and I would like to see FlyBe on the route (the Star Alliance connections at Brussels are not particularly enthralling and I would have thought point to point will be far more valuable than the promise of onward connections - Frankfurt would be a much better option for that). The reductions in seat cost would be well worth it. It would, however, mean basing an aircraft at LBA and I don't see FlyBe doing that at present (unless said aircraft was utilised on another route during the day). The other possibility is to sector the route from Belfast City - LBA - Brussels (Belfast currently has no connection with Belgium) On the down side to all this, it would appear that an FRA route is now less likely. Just for the record, I do not believe FR to Charleroi is an option.

They say that every cloud has a silver lining and this announcement could prove to be so. To lose the unsustainably high fares BMI instil upon their passengers would be no great loss and the replacements could prove to be exactly what the routes and the airport need.

 

[User0001]

Re: British Midland International (BMI)

Just to be clear, bmi is not officially for sale. Instead, Lufthansa have said they have appointed Morgan Stanley to perform a review to decide what to do with the business. Options they have been asked to consider include

- the sale of all of the business
- continue restructuring
- selling off parts of the business and keeping other parts

Elsewhere, an interesting article appeared which backs up what I was saying the other day about bmi regional's appetite for domestic routes....

Derby-based airline BMI is facing increased competition from UK rail companies, Insider has been told. Steven Griffiths, business director of BMI Regional, said the airline's domestic market was being "hurt" by more efficient rail operators and suggested it would continue to expand its services abroad in an attempt to boost revenues.

He said: "Increased competition from the rail companies – making trips quicker and easier – is hurting the UK domestic market. The UK APD tax doesn’t hurt the cause, either.

"We find it difficult on the short domestic routes with our equipment and we need to be looking over water to make anything work."

Earlier this month, BMI announced it would expand its overseas offerings by introducing a route from East Midlands Airport to Frankfurt, the world's ninth largest airport.

"Germany has always been a popular destination and by offering direct flights from East Midlands Airport to Frankfurt we can meet the increasing demand from business and leisure travellers," said Griffiths. "People living in the East Midlands now have the opportunity to travel to a wide range of worldwide destinations from their local airport."

The service will run three times each day, Monday to Friday.

Griffiths's comments come just weeks after it was announced that the Derby-based airline was losing £38 per passenger in its year-end results.

BMI recorded a total operating loss of £105m for the first half of 2011, according to figures in its parent company Lufthansa's financial accounts.

The figure represents a 29 per cent decline on the first six months of 2010.

After BMI's results were unveiled, rumours have persisted that Lufthansa is keen to sell the loss-making subsidiary.

The parent company itself made a slight profit of £2.6m in the first six months of the year.

In June, International Airlines Group (IAG) confirmed to Insider that it was interested in acquiring BMI, but admitted "the ball is in Lufthansa's court."

It is thought that the airline's coveted take-off and landing spots at Heathrow Airport would be a major advantage for any potential buyer.

 

[Bigman]

Re: British Midland International (BMI)

I see some Scottish bods are on about buying BMI Regional as a separate entity according to other sites and the BBC. Doubt they would want to keep an LBA-BRU service going.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Re: British Midland International (BMI)

According to a BBC report the intention would be to divorce Regional from Star Alliance and re-brand the airline (and rename it).

They would concentrate on serving Scotland from/to mid-sized European cities as well as feeding into hubs such as FRA, CDG and AMS to increase long haul options.

Part of the thinking seems to be that if IAG buys bmi mainline from LH (for its LHR slots) Scotland could become a more expensive place for people to fly to because of less competition and thus less competitive economically as a country.

The BBC report quotes someone described as an expert who reckons that within a few years further mergers will reduce Europe to having only five airlines, viz, IAG (BA/Iberia), KLM/Air France, Lufthansa, Ryanair and easyJet.

If Regional does become a Scottish airline the routes it flies for Brussels Airlines to BRU from LBA, NCL and BRS might have to be looked at again.

It was only a few months ago that LH spoke of using bmiRegional to open up more routes from UK airports to German cities. From memory East Midlands is to start such a route but it might not be long lasting.

 

[Bigman]

Re: British Midland International (BMI)

It would be nice if Regional were allowed to expand into Germany. It would also be useful if they were merged in with someone like Loganair. This would almost certainly secure our GLA and EDI routes, and would actually increase connectivity onto other Loganair routes.

 

[AZGAZORD]

Re: British Midland International (BMI)

BA buying BMI from Lufthansa - on BBC website now. Could be interesting...

 

[Aviador]

Re: British Midland International (BMI)

BA buying BMI from Lufthansa - on BBC website now. Could be interesting...

Dismantled until there's no evidence BMI ever existed. The Heathrow slots will end up being used on more international routes from Heathrow. It's inevitable .

 

[Bigman]

Re: British Midland International (BMI)

Agreed. I wonder though if the Government could take this opportunity to influence BA by only allowing their dominance at LHR by stipulating that a minimum number of slot must be used to provide connecting services to regional airports.

Example...Both BA and BMI serve MAN. It would make sense for BA to move the BMI slots over to LBA and then put bigger aircraft on the MAN to compensate for less overall flights. They could do the same with the EDI and GLA routes which again are duplicated, and give somewhere like INV flights to LHR again.

 

[User0001]

Re: British Midland International (BMI)

Example...Both BA and BMI serve MAN. It would make sense for BA to move the BMI slots over to LBA and then put bigger aircraft on the MAN to compensate for less overall flights

I would seriously doubt the govt has the ability or say so to do this.

If BA are told to cut flights due to 'no competition', then what does that mean for EK on Dubai? 3 flights a day with no other airlines operating the route. Qatar, Etihad, American and so on. BA is a private company just as much as the other airlines are

Even further to this, unless the UK govt offered a subsidy in the form of a PSO contract, they have no right whatsoever to tell BA to operate out of LBA. It would be BA's decision and their decision alone to operate out of BA, and given their obvious lack of interest, and the fact even bmi doesn't operate LBA-LHR, I would struggle to see how the sale to BA changes anything for the fortunes of a mainline service out of LHR.

Plus, this sale is a lot more complicated than meets the eye.

The regional arm is now officially a seperate entity to the mainline operation, so, it means the jungle jets will have to be pulled of the MAN-LHR route, it means the current 'operated by bmi' flights will have to transfer back to their respective carriers, it means the total loss of star feed from the regions into LHR, so, its going to be interesting to see how star alliance works this mess out.

So, basically, theres a lot to sort out before LBA even gets a look in.

 

[pug]

Re: British Midland International (BMI)

Willy Walsh was on 5live this lunch time. When asked about jobs being created he said something along the lines of '50 seat aircraft will be replaced with bigger long-haul aircraft at Heathrow thus creating more jobs..'

He was suggesting that current BMI slots will largely be used for long-haul grwoth. It would be nice to see more domestic feeder services like they used to allow, but it just wont be happening.

I dont see why the Government would want to encourage domestic air travel anyway? I thought they were trying to discourage it by increasing taxes etc..