It's only a newspaper article, so the chances are it's not very accurate.
Of course slots are a major driver for BA, but do not lose sight of the reality that BA would like to see a competitor removed from the scene and under its control. It also needs space and capacity if it is to expand at LHR and T5 is not enough.
And you can't just buy slots and hoard them. You have to fly them or lose them. So unless the slots are sold piecemeal to a large number of purchasers , any airline buying the whole slot package without the rest of the assets would have to find rather quickly a large number of aircraft and crews. If BA is the purchaser they can continue to run BMI but absorb it into mainstream BA as quickly as possible, gaining from synergies BA (and probably noone else) could achieve, in this way alleviating the ongoing losses incurred from BMI.
Whether this is financially worthwhile is the calculation BA will have to make and will depend on the deal they strike with DLH, if indeed DLH are prepared to go this route, and the proportion of the slots they are allowed to keep by DLH and the regulators.
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Last edited by Tagron; 12th Sep 2011 at 12:27.