bmi British Midland fight back at rivals

Low-cost airline, bmi British Midland, said today it was fighting back against its rivals.

The group said a decision to overhaul its fare structure meant passenger numbers were last month up 18% on a year ago.

Bmi introduced one-way fares in June and lifted restrictions such as Saturday night stop-overs in an effort to win back customers.

The privately-owned group also cut prices but decided to keep up a full service of free food, lounges and business facilities.

Passenger volumes on full service bmi routes rose 12% in September with a 57% jump on transatlantic routes from Manchester.

Including the airline’s own budget operation bmibaby, which launched in March, total passenger volumes were up 18% on September 2001.

The group’s load factor – the percentage of capacity taken up on a plane – was 72%, an 8% improvement.

Austin Reid, bmi’s chief executive, said: “We are now beginning to see the positive benefits of the strategic decisions taken over recent months.”

He added it was “exceptionally rewarding” to see the biggest gains in the UK on routes where it faces the stiffest competition from low-cost groups.

Services between Heathrow and Belfast carried 67% more passengers than a year ago while there was a 24% jump on the Heathrow to Edinburgh route.

Derby-based bmi runs 2,000 flights a week to 25 destinations but has suffered from the rapid growth of Ryanair and easyJet, which now owns Go.

Bmibaby will take over bmi’s services at East Midlands airport in 10 days at the same time it begins flights out of Cardiff airport.

The September figures mark the first time the airline has released monthly passenger numbers for its business.

Last week, easyJet said passenger numbers were 134% up on the previous year with 1.6 million people choosing to fly with the group last month.