Hi All
bmi regional have announced 3 new routes today. These include Edinburgh to Zurich, Aberdeen to Kristiansand, Leeds Bradford to Copenhagen, also an additional Edinburgh-Manchester flight and revised flight timing Edinburgh to Leeds morning service.
With this expansion the airline has also ordered 4 more Embrear 145 regional jet aircraft for delivery this summer.
Anyway heres the full press release.
– four new aircraft – new routes and increased frequencies on existing services
bmi regional, officially the UK’s most punctual and reliable airline, has announced a major expansion programme for summer 2007.
The full service, all-jet, regional carrier will start taking delivery of a further four Embraer 145 aircraft early in 2007. This will take the total fleet up to 20 aircraft.
The new aircraft will be used to support an expansion programme that will see bmi regional launch daily flights from Edinburgh to Zurich. The service will establish new links between the Scottish capital and the major Swiss business and finance centre.
Additionally, Scottish travellers will benefit from a new daily service establishing a direct link between Aberdeen and the Norwegian city of Kristiansand.
New links will also be created from Leeds Bradford airport when bmi regional launches a daily service to the Danish capital of Copenhagen.
Extra services are to be introduced to meet the continuing demand for bmi regional flights between Scotland and Manchester and Leeds Bradford. An additional return flight between Edinburgh and Manchester will take weekday services up to seven a day. Revised timings between Edinburgh and Leeds Bradford will create a new much-requested early morning service, departing the Scottish capital at 0705 and arriving in Leeds Bradford at 0805.
Stewart Adams, managing director of Aberdeen-based bmi regional, said: “We continue to expand our network of full-service, non-stop flights between Scotland and key destinations in the UK and Europe. The creation of new links between Edinburgh and Zurich will bring the businesses of these two cities and their communities much closer and doing business will be far easier. We expect the new bmi regional service from Aberdeen to Kristiansand, the key Norwegian centre for oil and gas engineering, to be a popular addition to the network. We are also pleased to confirm a new service that will establish the only direct air links between Leeds Bradford and Copenhagen.
“We know passengers prefer jets to turbo-propeller aircraft for reliability and speed. As an all-jet operator we therefore have a unique position over our regional competitors. This gives us the confidence to increase our fleet size to serve some exciting new destinations as well as meet the demand for additional services on some of our more established routes. This is good news as the growth is likely to create more employment opportunities within the airline as well as within the communities we serve.”
ends
note to editors
• all new routes and timings will be introduced on 26 March, the start of the summer timetable
• bmi regional operates an all-jet fleet of modern Embraer 135 and 145 aircraft and from the following UK airports: Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds Bradford, Manchester, Norwich and East Midlands Airport
• according to the latest CAA statistics bmi regional is the most punctual airline in the UK
• bmi regional is a wholly owned subsidiary of bmi, Heathrow’s second largest airline and member of Star Alliance
• Edinburgh-Zurich schedule:
BD607 Edinburgh-Zurich depart 1005, arrive 1330 (Mon to Fri)
BD607 Edinburgh-Zurich depart 0700, arrive 1025 (Sat)
BD607 Edinburgh-Zurich depart 1115, arrive 1440 (Sun)BD608 Zurich-Edinburgh depart 1400, arrive 1520 (Mon to Fri)
BD608 Zurich-Edinburgh depart 1055, arrive 1205 (Sat)
BD608 Zurich-Edinburgh depart 1510, arrive 1630 (Sun)• Aberdeen-Kristiansand schedule:
BD349 Aberdeen-Kristiansand depart 0855, arrive 1110 (Mon to Fri)
BD349 Aberdeen-Kristiansand depart 1550, arrive 1805 (Sun)BD350 Kristiansand-Aberdeen depart 1135, arrive 1200 (Mon to Fri)
BD350 Kristiansand-Aberdeen depart 1835, arrive 1900 (Sun)• Leeds Bradford-Copenhagen schedule:
BD491 Leeds Bradford-Copenhagen depart 1000, arrive 1255 (Mon to Fri)
BD491 Leeds Bradford-Copenhagen depart 0705, arrive 1000 (Sat, Sun)BD492 Copenhagen-Leeds Bradford depart 1325, arrive 1425 (Mon to Fri)
BD492 Copenhagen-Leeds Bradford depart 1030, arrive 1130 (Sat, Sun)• additional Edinburgh-Manchester flight:
BD362 Edinburgh-Manchester depart 1700, arrive 1800 (Mon to Fri, Sun)BD361 Manchester-Edinburgh depart 1830, arrive 1930 (Mon to Fri, Sun)
• revised Edinburgh-Leeds flight timing:
BD410 Edinburgh-Leeds Bradford depart 0705, arrive 0805 (Mon to Fri)BD409 Leeds Bradford-Edinburgh depart 0830, arrive 0930 (Mon to Fri)
By: lbaspotter - 11th January 2007 at 13:50
I’ve heard from a reliable source at BMI that the LBA-CDG services will be withdrawn in the very near future as this route is under performing.
Hi
This can’t be right. The Paris route is one off the better performing routes from LBA for bmi regional. Theses Flights are always over 35/40 passengers on them. Even though it’s up against a 1 daily mid day Jet2 B737-300 service.
If any route was under performing from LBA for bmi regional I would say it’s the Glasgow route. Passenger figures a dropping like fly’s just at the moment for some reason. They are having to stick the smaller ERJ135 on sometimes, as they can’t even fill the larger ERJ145 that is scheduled to operate the route.
If you’d asked this question a couple off months ago though. I would have said the Brussels run would have been axed. But this route seems to have picked up just off late. It’s scheduled to be operated by the ERJ135 but now they are having to put the larger ER145 on it.
What do the rest off the LBA regulars think???
By: UK Commercials - 11th January 2007 at 00:29
Not all good news for LBA!
I’ve heard from a reliable source at BMI that the LBA-CDG services will be withdrawn in the very near future as this route is under performing.
By: RIPConcorde - 10th January 2007 at 18:55
EDI-ZRH is excellent news! I will almost certainly be using this.
Shame they chose to announce an additional MAN instead of MUC that they also had slots for, but maybe EZY/ lack of suitable slots at MUC again put them off.
By: LBARULES - 10th January 2007 at 16:45
Ah, cheers! Looked on flybmi.com for an answer, but the timetable wouldn’t work!
By: chrism20 - 10th January 2007 at 16:37
A 09:30 arrival in EDI is quite late for the business traveller flying LBA-EDI surely?
The BD 409/410 have been retimed, the BD 403/404 the first LBA/EDI service will still run at 0705 for an 0805 arrival into EDI
By: LBARULES - 10th January 2007 at 16:19
If Copenhagen actually happens this time, then it is excellent news, even though I would have expected more than one flight a day, maybe they couldn’t get the slots. Surprised to see bmi start a new LBA route all the same!
Interesting move with what looks like the morning EDI going to an EDI based machine. A 09:30 arrival in EDI is quite late for the business traveller flying LBA-EDI surely? Oh well, I am sure they have consulted with the business travellers they fly around and have got it right.
By: rdc1000 - 10th January 2007 at 15:16
Other articles I have seen seem to suggest the aircraft are not new, but the source hasn’t been disclosed as the deal is not finalised. I suspect they may even be on the UK register already. They may also be new, I don’t know anything particular.
By: andrewm - 10th January 2007 at 14:46
Is the EMB-145 still in production ?
Yes
By: Ren Frew - 10th January 2007 at 13:33
Is the EMB-145 still in production ?
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January 10, 2007 at 12:52 pm