British Midland International announced it will be ending its daily flights between London and Glasgow from March 27th, but it will be using the spare aircraft to operate new routes to Morocco and Norway.
From April, Bmi will launch new routes to Marrakech, Casablanca, Bergen and Stavanger. On April 1st, the carrier will start daily flights to Bergen and Stavanger in Norway, plus three times weekly flights to Marrakech. Four times weekly flights from London Heathrow to Casablanca will commence on April 2nd. Bmi aircraft will also be used to operate codeshare services with Lufthansa from Birmingham and Manchester to Frankfurt.
Bmi, owned by German carrier Lufthansa, said it decided to cancel the London-Glasgow route because of a 50% increase in domestic passenger charges at British Airways-owned London Heathrow. Supposedly Bmi had been losing £1 million per month on the route and so it finally decided to axe flights between the two UK cities.
Flights to Stavanger, Bergen, Marrakech and Casablanca will be operated using an A319 aircraft with Economy and Business Class seats. The A319 offers 30 Business Class seats in a 3-3-3 configuration. Bmi has recently re-launched its Business Class services, offering premium passengers a chauffeur driven car from their doorstep to Heathrow Airport. Business Class ticket-holders will be escorted to a premium check-in area, where their baggage is taken off their hands and the concierge will help to complete check-in. They also have the opportunity to relax in bmi Business Class lounges including the Great British Lounge at Heathrow.
British Midland International provides spacious Business Class cabins and serves passengers with freshly prepared food, wine and beverages. If passengers are landing at Heathrow, they can have breakfast and take a shower in the Arrivals lounge before heading into the city for business. Other advantages of Business Class include a 40kg baggage allowance, 50 inches of legroom and individual entertainment screens, plus paperless boarding with the ability to have boarding passes sent to a mobile phone.
Flights from Heathrow to Stavanger will depart daily at 08:55, arriving at 11:50. The return leg will depart from Stavanger at 12:30, landing in Heathrow at 13:25 on Sundays to Fridays. On Saturdays, flights will leave Stavanger at a different time of 13:10, touching down at Heathrow at 14:05.
Flights from Heathrow to Bergen will depart at 14:05, arriving at 16:55 on Sundays to Fridays, whilst on Saturdays flights will leave Heathrow at 14:25, landing in Bergen at 17:15. From Sundays to Fridays the return flight will depart Bergen at 17:50, arriving in Heathrow at 18:20, and on Saturdays the flight will depart from Bergen at the later time of 17:50, landing at Heathrow at 18:40.
Outbound flights from Heathrow to Casablanca will leave on Tuesdays, Saturdays and Sundays at 10:10, arriving in Casablanca at 12:25. On Thursdays the flight will depart at the earlier time of 08:35, landing in Casablanca at 10:50. Inbound services will depart from Casablanca on Tuesdays, Saturdays and Sundays at 13:15, arriving at 17:25, whilst on Thursdays flights will leave Casablanca at 11:40, arriving in Heathrow at 15:50.
Marrakech flights will depart from Heathrow on Mondays and Fridays at 10:10, arriving in Marrakech at 12:25. On Sundays flights will depart at 11:10, touching down at 13:35. The return flight will leave Marrakech on Mondays and Fridays at 13:25, landing at 17:50. On Sundays services will take-off from Marrakech at 14:25, arriving in Heathrow at 18:50.
Bmi plans to use A320s operate three of the four daily flights from Manchester and Birmingham to Frankfurt from March 27th. The refurbished aircraft will have both Bmi Business Class and Economy Class products.
“London Heathrow is the home of bmi and as the second largest airline at Heathrow we will continue to offer our customers attractive business and leisure destinations,” said Wolfgang Prock Schauer, Chief Executive Officer of bmi. “To meet the clear demand for further growth, we are offering new direct services to Norway and to Morocco which builds on our network strategy to focus on international routes whilst still providing key domestic connectivity to London Heathrow.”
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