450 jobs lost as British airline to close after failure to find buyer

British airline BMIbaby is to close this weekend with the loss of 450 jobs.

The airline operated a route from Knock to Birmingham this summer.

British Airways parent company IAG yesterday said the discount arm of the BMI business bought from Lufthansa will close after no buyer could be found for a unit that doesn’t fit its operations.

“After a review of options for BMIbaby and following formal consultation with union and employee representatives, the business will be closed, with the last flight departing Sept 9,” IAG said.

IAG bought BMI in April and said in May that talks had begun on closing BMIbaby at some point this month after no bids for the unwanted arm were forthcoming.

The unit competed with Ryanair and Jet2.com at its East Midlands hub, and overlapped with Ryanair in Birmingham. Both rivals, together with carriers including EasyJet, also have bases in cities as little as 80km to the north.

All employees who are losing their jobs will be able to apply for any vacancies at British Airways, a BMIbaby spokeswoman said. The carrier operated 14 aircraft, flying more than 700 services a week in the peak season to 23 European destinations.

German turnaround specialist Intro Aviation, which had expressed an interest in BMIbaby, ended talks after Lufthansa rejected a non-binding offer, managing director Peter Oncken said in April.

IAG sold another division, BMI Regional, to Sector Aviation Holdings for £8m (€10.1m) in a deal announced in May.