Originally Posted by
Curious Pax
Bmi have tried to be creative with their lack of slots in the past - ie their attempt to start up to Doha in cooperation with Qatar AW - so the 7-8 arrival each day that BMed would provide would give them scope for a number of profitable options.
I can't concieve of why bmi would want more LHR slots right now, unless it was to sell them on later (BMed perhaps being cheaper than the value of their slots?) - if anything, bmi have been operating "slot holding" flights into LHR recently in oder to preserve those slots that they have, rather than needing more. Jersey isn't using all of the slots made vacant by the withdrawal from CDG, so again bmi have some slots looking for flights. The QR deal was nothing to do with bmi needing slots - it was in fact QR operating on a bmi flight number using bmi slots, because the bilatteral didn't allow QR to increase frequencies and QR couldn't get slots itself but bmi had some slots "available".
Actually, as mentioned above, BMed's sphere of operations does IMHO fit fairly nicely into bmi's "new" direction - mid-haul into primarily non-leisure destinations - and on that basis I'd have thought BMed would be quite a nice fit. However, do bmi actually have the money to spend on BMed, because I doubt Uncle Lufthansa or Auntie SAS will put their hands in their pockets without very good cause?
Andy