BMI TO LAUNCH BIGGEST ROUTE EXPANSION, TO IMPROVE MID-HAUL NETWORK

AFX UK (Focus)
Published: Sep 04, 2007

LONDON (Thomson Financial) – Privately owned airline BMI said it is
launching its biggest-ever route expansion, with 17 new destinations
from London Heathrow and plans for further improvements to its
mid-haul network.

BMI, in which Deutsche Lufthansa AG and SAS AB have stakes of 30
pct minus one share and 20 pct respectively, said routes to Middle
Eastern destinations including Baku in Azerbaijan, Tehran, Beirut,
Amman in Jordan, Almaty in Kazakhstan and Yerevan in Armenia will
start on Oct 28.

The Derbyshire-based airline, in which chairman Sir Michael Bishop
has a majority stake, said it had also identified a number of key
destinations which it wants to serve from Heathrow, including Kiev,
Minsk, Kuwait City, Lahore in Pakistan, Tel Aviv, Dammam in Saudi
Arabia and Sana’a in Yemen, as well as increased flights from Heathrow
to Moscow.

"We will be seeking a number of such opportunities over the coming
months," BMI Group chief executive Nigel Turner said in a statement.

The move marks the completion of the integration into BMI of British
Airways PLC destinations that were run by BMED under a franchise
agreement. BMI bought BMED in February 2007.

The airline said it is also introducing major enhancements to its
in-flight product, including improved food and drinks service on
all its mid-haul and long-haul routes, new amenity kits and kids’
packs and in-flight entertainment.

>From mid-September, BMI will launch new lie-flat beds on services from
Heathrow to Riyadh and to Jeddah, as well as to the Caribbean and to
the United States from Manchester. philip.waller@thomson.com paw/ajb

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress