bmibaby ‘could close in September’
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bmibaby could close in September if management decides it is the right decision for the airline, it revealed today.
Bosses at the carrier have started consultations with trade unions over the future of bmibaby following International Airlines Group (IAG)’s continued disinterest in the airline. During the consultation period several options will be considered including a proposal to shut down in four months.
The airline has currently halted seat sales for flights departing after 10 September although summer bookings are still available from East Midlands and Birmingham.
It has also announced some routes will be cut from 11 June, including flights to and from Belfast, although this will not affect bmi’s service to Heathrow. bmibaby’s services from East Midlands to Amsterdam, Paris, Geneva, Nice, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Newquay, and from Birmingham to Knock and Amsterdam will also cease to operate on that same date.
“We recognise that these are unsettling times for bmibaby employees, who have worked tirelessly during a long period of uncertainty. bmibaby has delivered high levels of operational performance and customer service, but has continued to struggle financially, losing more than £100m in the last four years. In the consultation process, we will need to be realistic about our options,” said Peter Simpson, interim managing director at bmi.
“To help stem losses as quickly as possible and as a preliminary measure, we will be making reductions to bmibaby’s flying programme from June. We sincerely apologise to all customers affected and will be providing full refunds and doing all we can with other airlines to mitigate the impact of these changes”.
While IAG bought out bmi, bmi Regional and bmibaby it has always said the latter two are not part of its long-term plans.
Monarch has already announced it will launch a base at East Midlands at the end of this summer.