Bmi puts 17 new routes on sale

Bmi has started selling 17 new routes following the integration of former British Airways franchise carrier BMED which was acquired in February.

The new routes being launched on October 28 includes Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Aleppo, Syria; Almaty, Kazakhstan; Amman, Jordan; Ankara, Turkey; Baku, Azerbaijan; Beirut, Lebanon; Bishkek, Kyrgystan; Cairo, Egypt (4 November); Dakar, Senegal; Damascus, Syria; Ekaterinburg, Russia; Freetown, Sierra Leone; Khartoum, Sudan; Tbilisi, Georgia; Tehran, Iran; Yerevan, Armenia. 

Services to Amman and Beirut will be served by daily direct flights, an increase over the previous BA schedule. 

Coinciding with the launch of the new routes, the airline is to introduce enhancements to its in-flight service. 

Bmi will introduce new lie-flat beds on flights from Heathrow to Riyadh to Jeddah, as well as to the Caribbean and to the US from Manchester.

The airline is also unveiling an enhanced premium economy on services to the US and the Caribbean, providing travellers with a “genuine” business class seat in a premium economy cabin, with a 49-inch seat pitch, claimed to be 11 inches greater than competitors.

Bmi also plans further expansion of its mid-haul route network from next year as the first of its additional aircraft are delivered. The deliveries are part of a $750 million aircraft acquisition programme announced earlier this year.

The in-flight service upgrade from mid-September includes improved food and drinks service on mid-haul and long-haul routes, new amenity kits and childrens’ packs, and in-flight entertainment offering up to 22 films.

Bmi group chief executive Nigel Turner said: “These new routes represent the single largest expansion of the bmi brand in the history of the airline, and mark our continuing transition into a truly global airline.

“Ten years ago, we had a network that was 100 per cent short haul domestic and European. From the end of October, more than half of our destinations from Heathrow will be in the mid-haul and long-haul markets.

“We will serve 36 destinations from Heathrow this winter, with an in-flight product that provides the highest level of service to business and leisure travellers alike. It is a network that will particularly enhance transfer traffic as all 36 destinations will be served from Terminal 1.

“We have also identified a number of key destinations which we are eager to serve from Heathrow, including Kiev, Minsk, Kuwait City, Lahore, Tel Aviv, Dammam and Sana’a as well as increasing flights from Heathrow to Moscow. We will be seeking a number of such opportunities over the coming months.”

by Phil Davies 

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