I think that the formation of bmi regional as a 'new' airline is a great move, especially with the retention of a base at Manchester as well as Aberdeen. I think the advertisments around Manchester advertising the new Antwerp route look classy and the streamlined for business line cuts just the right image.
The challenge for them will be to grow the business by offering a high quality service to key business destinations with competetive fares. Refering to one of the posts above I would be extremely cautious about setting up a low cost version ('BMIbaby 2') to take on Easyjet, Jet2, flybe and Ryanair at UK airports - I can't think of a quicker way to the airline graveyard. Bmi regional need to be very focussed on what the old British Midland did best, providing a good quality reliable business service to destinations that business people need to go to at reasonable prices. To be honest despite I wouldn't even dream of resurrecting BMIbaby as the way it was managed in recent years was an absolute shambles that could seriously undermine/ damage the new 'bmi' brand (e.g remember the niche routes strategy that never materialised before retrenchment to EMA) and for that reason I would be cautious about allowing anyone from the senior managment of BMIbaby anywhere near the new business. In my view bmi regional need to make sure that they don't repeat the mistakes of the old BMI that resulted in them trying to compete with BA at LHR and mismanging their locost operation, the fragmentation of the business eventually resulted in a complete loss of focus.
Good luck to them though, its early days but if they carry on as they have started I predicted great things for them. I also think the profile that they give on their website to private charters is an excellent idea which is ahead of its time. God rest BMI, long live bmi regional!
