Economy Class & Beyond

Surprise Surprise. Virgin makes a complaint over the BMI takeover by IAG

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Well, if you couldn't see this coming... you need new glasses. Virgin Group today lodged a formal complaint at the European Commission over International Consolidated Airlines Group takeover of British Midland Airways. Virgin group argues there will be a " "choice of one" on flights between Aberdeen and Edinburgh and Heathrow (ignoring the small matter of flights to other … [Read more...]

Uhoh. The Sale of BMI Regional is taking a little longer than some like….

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Well, firstly we have a name at last for the buyers of BMI Regional - Granite Aviation according to Flight International. And there's a bit of a snag in the sale due the company taking over as Granite is an investment group - not an airline and thus has no airline infrastructure in place. This means things like lack of support for planes is currently lacking. An agreement … [Read more...]

Swiss replaces BMI on BSL-LON Route, Returns to LCY

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Well it seems the leases of British Midland International planes doing turns for Lufthansa group airlines is beginning to draw to a close. Swiss have announced they are going to be switching from BMI's Aircraft to Brussels Airlines AvroJets. Consequently, the Basel<>London Heathrow route will be killed off, and replaced with a Basel <> London City Airport route. … [Read more...]

BMI Futures Week: It’s confirmed – NO Miles and More Status Match

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Those of you who were hoping to match to Miles and More from BMI Diamond Club - some very bad news for you (and if truth be told, I've sort of known this after chatting to a few people last week). From http://forum.airliners.de/index.php?showtopic=44637&view=findpost&p=607297 and translated by Google: The sale of bmi IAG (the parent company of BA) - shall be … [Read more...]

BMI Futures Week – Should I re-qualify for BD*G/BD*S?

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Well the clue of the post is in the title - Should you be aiming to re-qualify for Gold or Silver? Well the short answer is Yes. Because when BMI finally goes, it's pretty much a given status will be matched by the overtaking airline - be it IAG's British Airways or Virgin Atlantic. Based on the current timetables, here's my thoughts on when if to go for the full … [Read more...]

BMI Futures Week. Next steps….

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As most of you sadly know, I am an ardent supporters of BMI and their Diamond Club programme. Heck, I've even flown with BMI. So yes, it is an airline and not just a frequent flyers programme that we all dump miles into ;) However, as the Bob Dylan song goes, The Times, They Are A Changing... For this week, I'll be talking about a few different things such as: Should … [Read more...]

BMI’s Prock-Schauer rallys to the troops ahead of the sale…

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As we are all aware (or if you've been living under a rock), British Midland Ltd - comprising of British Midland International, BMI Baby and BMI Regional is on the block to be sold by Lufthansa to International Consolidated Airlines Group (owners of British Airways and Iberia) with Virgin Atlantic making grumbling noises in the background. Well a post on the FlyerTalk BMI … [Read more...]

Airplane Art – British Midland International A319

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It's Christmas Day, and a Merry Christmas to all. It's Sunday still, so it's time for some airplane art. This week, it's a present International Consolidated Airlines Group brought for it self from Lufthansa - British Midland Airways Limited.. and with that, a BMI Airbus A319 taxing at George Best International Airport More airplane art over the week as it's Christmas … [Read more...]

From the horses mouths: Lufthansa and IAG on the BMI sale

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The press releases for today's big announcement today of the sale of British Midland Airways to International Consolidated Airlines Group (IAG) First up, Lufthansa - http://presse.lufthansa.com/en/news-releases/singleview/archive/2011/december/22/article/2054.html Following the announcement on November 4, 2011, Deutsche Lufthansa AG (Lufthansa) and International Airlines … [Read more...]

Lufthansa sells BMI to… IAG (BA/Iberia)

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Well it seems Virgin was too late to the party with Deutsch Lufthansa AG deciding to sell it's British Midland Airways subsidiary to ... International Consolidated Airlines Group (IAG). For IAG, the spoils of war are simple: 56 slots at Heathrow. The cost has been revealed to be  £172.5m, and IAG/Lufthansa aim to have the deal done in the next 3 months. The deal of … [Read more...]