BMI REGIONAL-2

[Jamesair]

They are supposed to be looking for a route to fill the gap between the morning and evening BRU rotations or a even a midday BRU flight.

[EK77WNCL]

I hope they go for 2/3 other 2/3 weekly flights instead of another predominantly business route like FRA. A midday flight wouldn't be too popular, it needs 2 daily as has been proven by DUS.

[MerchantVenturer]

bmi regional will no longer sell business class tickets and will introduce an enhanced all-economy product.

A formal announcement will be made in the next couple of weeks regarding code shares.

The company is also looking seriously at calling itself Bmi. It owns the rights to the name.

Their strategy is described by their marketing director as three-pronged: wider customer groups from Bristol focusing on the business traveller; business and domestic travel at Aberdeen with a focus on energy;focusing on energy and 'a bit of leisure' on the Norwegian routes.

He added that the next step would be to ensure that Bristol gets more connectivity, building their position in the energy business and connecting into longer-haul hubs.

Full details at:Bmi Regional goes all-economy - Business Traveller

[SWBKCB]

Can somebody explain what

wider customer groups out of Bristol with a focus on the business traveller

actually means?

[compton3bravo]

I think it is called bo**ocks!

[MerchantVenturer]

I suspect it's a euphemism for saying they want/need more business passengers.

[oceanhawk]

If it's anything like the old British Midland Diamond Service, it should be really good. I wish them well.

[Fairdealfrank]

If it's anything like the old British Midland Diamond Service, it should be really good. I wish them well.

Agreed, good old BD, RIP!

[BAladdy]

SN will replace the current BE DH4 used on there BRS-BRU route with a BM ER4 from the 30th March.

Brussels Airlines to wet-lease an ERJ-145 from bmi regional in Spring - ch-aviation.com

[BAladdy]

BM appear to have dropped flights to TOS just one month after being launched.
BM continue to operate the daily SVG-EVE route.

[wallp]

I hope they go with the BMI name & drop the 'regional' tag. In it's hey day, it was a highly respected brand & it might make it easier for them to expand more widely in the future?

I'd love to see a return of the old Diamond Service. I agree with oceanhawk, it really was

[Bristol_Traveller]

I'm looking forward to the codeshare announcements, and I hope it will give BMIr a step-up I think they deserve.

I would assume we're expecting codeshares with LH group, through FRA/MUC/BRU, maybe paving the way for a transfer of more of the feeders from LH/SN to BM? (I wouldn't mind BM taking over the BRS-BRU from SN properly, who's idea of service I find verging on unacceptably parsimonious).

Fingers crossed it marks another moment in the rebirth of the bmi brand.

[MerchantVenturer]

Let's hope the codeshares will happen but the announcement seems to have been delayed if the article in the Business Traveller (based on an interview with the airline's marketing director) dated 7 February this year is accurate. The relevant bit of the article is this.

We've got a lot of interesting things in terms of codeshares coming on track which will be really strong for business travellers. We've looked back on some of our former partnerships and tried to rebuild those.'

A formal announcement on this will come in the next couple of weeks.

[Bristol_Traveller]

I would guess any announcements might be made to coincide with the start of the summer timetable at the end of March.

LH have just announced their codeshares with 4U (Germanwings), which are only accessible when booked in conjunction with another LH flight. It's possible we'll see the same thing with the BM codeshare arrangement. (So keeping it within LH group, not the wider *A family).

[BAladdy]

Does anyone know if BM's ER3 G-RJXP has been taken out of service?. It's just I Can't find any record of this aircraft operating after the 30th November 2013.

[wallp]

Does the airline plan to stick with its current fleet or are there plans to re equip?

[Cyrano]

Originally Posted by wallp

Does the airline plan to stick with its current fleet or are there plans to re equip?

New aircraft cost significant amounts of money, whether leased or financed. Do you think the current network is likely to be generating enough free cash to fund refleeting?

[wallp]

I'm aware aircraft cost a lot of money & I have no idea about the health of the airline, I'm just asking the question because I get the impression that BMI Regional is trying to evolve & grow so wondered what this means in terms of its fleet of planes?

[Cyrano]

Sorry, I didn't mean to sound snarky. My sense from the outside is that bmi has not yet found a stable and lucrative enough network to be able to contemplate a new fleet. I suspect their existing fleet came to them on very advantageous terms as part of the acquisition. Any new fleet would involve larger aircraft (70-100 seats probably) so to make that work they'd have to have an appreciable number of established routes generating good yields and with enough traffic growth potential to justify twice-daily 70+ seater operation. And I just don't see those routes in the network yet. I hope they'll find them - I wish bmi very well - but I don't think they're there yet.

[wallp]

Are they perhaps focussing on the wrong airports where yields are quite low?