It seems that bmi's creation of bmibaby in the battle with Go was not the end of things as they have today announced a significant increase in services on the existing bmi regional network, as well as slashing fares.
From the bmi website:
bmi regional announces major network expansion and new low fares
. .62 extra flights a week to and from the Midlands region by home carrier
attractive new pricing structure with fares from just £38 return
From 31 March 2002, travellers in the East Midlands will be able to take advantage of an additional 62 flights a week. These increased frequencies will allow bmi regional to offer a more comprehensive service to both business and leisure travellers, who need the flexibility and frequency to travel within the UK and Europe.
Ahead of the massive increase in the number of flights, bmi regional is also introducing an attractive new pricing structure to help give real value for money fares, designed at attracting both the business and leisure traveller. The new structure gives customers the flexibility to book outbound and return flights at the lowest available fare level, with all bookings now based on an each way fare. This means that customers now have the opportunity to benefit from the lowest fare available on both their outbound and return flight. bmi has also simplified the booking terms and conditions offering greater flexibility to the customer if changes need to be made after a booking has been made.
bmi regional will offer return fares from East Midlands to: Belfast, Edinburgh and Glasgow from £38; Amsterdam from £63, Paris Charles de Gaulle from £73 and Brussels from £84. Tickets at the new fare levels will be available for purchase from 26 February 2002 for travel from the 16 March 2002 onwards.
Additional services from East Midlands Airport will include:. .• East Midlands to Glasgow - an increase from four to five return flights a day Monday to Friday, and from one to two on a Sunday.. .• East Midlands to Edinburgh – an increase from three to four return flights a day Monday to Friday, providing an extra early morning departure, and from one to two on Sunday.. .• East Midlands to Belfast City – an increase from three to five return flights a day Monday to Friday, with an extra flight on Saturday and Sunday.. .• East Midlands to Amsterdam – an increase from three to four return flights a day and from two to three on a Sunday.. .• East Midlands to Paris – an increase from one to two return flights on a Sunday evening.
Austin Reid, chief executive officer, bmi said:
“ We have been working on a new business model for some months now, to help ensure that we can maintain a competitive edge in a challenging market. This massive increase in flights yet again reinforces our long standing and very clear commitment to the region and our continued drive to provide customers with a wide range of destinations, coupled with a high level of frequency and of course at an attractive price.”
notes to editors. .1. bmi regional will operate a total of 290 services a week to and from East Midlands Airport from 31 March 2002.. .2.From 20 March 2002, bmibaby (the new no frills airline of bmi) will operate an additional 60 flights a week from East Midlands Airport to Barcelona, Dublin, Faro, Malaga, Murcia (Alicante), Nice, Palma and Prague.. .3.Fares quoted are internet based fares, which are £5.00 less than booking via reservations. All fares quoted include tax, passenger service charge and surcharge.. .4.As part of the route network rationalisation, services from East Midlands to Frankfurt will be suspended from 3 March 2002. Since the start of this service in November 1999, the route has been unable to generate the required revenue levels to sustain a viable operation.
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