UK carrier bmi is turning its East Midlands Airport scheduled services into a purely low-cost airline operation, it was announced today.
From November the airline - formerly bmi british midland - will only fly from the Leicestershire airport using planes run by its no-frills carrier bmibaby.
Currently bmibaby flies from East Midlands alongside parent company bmi which operates to seven destinations. Just which of these routes will be carried on by bmibaby will be revealed on Thursday. Bmibaby has proved a big success since its launch in March, with 200,000 passengers being carried.
The no-frills airline is to start flights from Cardiff in October and will fly to nine destinations from the Welsh capital.
Bmi chief executive Austin Reid said today: "We have been conducting an ongoing review of all of our operations over the last 18 months and have implemented a number of business initiatives as part of this exercise.
"It is vital that we recognise the changes in consumer attitudes that are taking place."
He went on: "A window of opportunity clearly exists for us to grow and develop the low cost part of our business at a time when the industry faces considerable competition and lower fares.
"The development of the bmibaby network at East Midlands Airport and its new Cardiff International base will provide us with a sound foundation on which to build our future growth and reputation in this important market."
Bmi already operates from 10 UK airports including Heathrow and Manchester.
· PA News
