More response today from the fallout of BMI Baby being wound down.
Birmingham Airport has announced that they will be bringing two aircraft to join it’s local base, and will add more flights to Malaga, Alicante, Rome, Palma, Faro and Barcelona; all destinations served by bmibaby.
Meanwhile, Flybe will continue to operate to Belfast City, with EasyJet joining them in the autumn.
KLM will continue to serve the Amsterdam connection, whilst Ryanair has launched recover fares at http://www.ryanair.com/en/news/bmi-baby-rescue-fares-from-just-29-99-pounds-one-way on appropriate routes
East Midlands Airport will be greeting Flybe from the winter timetable onwards as I wrote about yesterday.
And Belfast City Airport? That’s a very interesting question. At the moment, BMI Baby, BMI Mainline and FlyBe fly out of the airport as the major tenants, with some additional services operated by Manx2.
The loss of BMI Baby reduces the options Belfast City Airport has – taking it down to 3 airlines. In addition, Aer Lingus codeshares a lot out with British Airways of Belfast International Airport which could present a major threat if IAG says “we’ll codeshare” and keep the LHR-BHD slots for other purposes.
This will leave Belfast City Airport in a hole with one major operator – FlyBe. Even Ryanair walked away from Belfast City after deciding that the runway was 1) too short and 2) there was a major dispute if and when a runway extension would appear.
Unless in some dark backroom, there are big negotiations to drag another airline into Belfast City Airport – but whom? Due to its location, it has limited operation hours and approach/departure patterns. Combine that with a short runway, it’s not a great mix in the least….
