AllAfrica.com, Washington
Ethiopia: British Midland Airways to Launch Flights to Addis
The Reporter (Addis Ababa)
15 September 2007
Posted to the web 15 September 2007
British Midland Airways (bmi) has announced its plans to start flights
to Addis Ababa as of October 28, according to reports.
Addis Ababa is among bmi’s 17 new destinations which include Aleppo,
Syria; Almaty, Kazakhstan; Amman, Jordan; Ankara, Turkey; Baku,
Azerbaijan; Beirut, Lebanon; Bishkek, Kyrgystan; Cairo, Egypt (4
November); Dakar, Senegal; Damascus, Syria; Ekaterinburg, Russia;
Freetown, Sierra Leone; Khartoum, Sudan; Tbilisi, Georgia; Tehran,
Iran; Yerevan, Armenia.
"The new routes, starting 28 October 2007, will operate from
Heathrow’s Terminal 1 with an improved timetable for business
travellers and with a new enhanced in-flight product. The move marks
the completion of the integration of BA destinations that were
operated by BMED under a franchise agreement. BMED was purchased by
bmi in February 2007," Euronews reported.
Nigel Turner, chief executive of bmi group, is quoted by Euronews:
"These new routes represent the single largest expansion of the bmi
brand in the history of the airline, and mark our continuing
transition into a truly global airline.
"Ten years ago, we had a network that was 100 per cent short haul
domestic and European. From the end of October, more than half of our
destinations from Heathrow will be in the mid-haul and long-haul
markets.
bmi is a member of Star Alliance, established in 1997.