BMI airlines: The facts

This article looks at BMI, a British airline which operates flights between London Heathrow and destinations throughout the UK, Europe and beyond. It is a member of the Lufthansa Group of carriers, and one of 27 airlines making up the international "Star Alliance" grouping. BMI's membership of this grouping allows its passengers to make through bookings to destinations across the globe, transferring from bmi flights to flights operated by other Star Alliance members. weight health

BMI's route network

BMI is London Heathrow's second largest airline, operating domestic services to Edinburgh, Manchester and George Best Belfast City Airports. It also operates flights between Heathrow and Dublin as well as a network of short and medium haul destinations across Europe. The airline's longhaul destinations include airports in Saudi Arabia, Africa and Asia.
BMI flights are operated by the Airbus A321-200, A320-200 and A319-100. As of 01.05.2011, the airline also operated one wide body Airbus A330-200 and one Boeing 757-200.

BMI regional

BMI regional which is part of BMI, operates flights between regional airports within the UK and Europe. These include Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds Bradford, Manchester and East Midlands. bmi regional services are operated by the Embraer 145 aircraft which carries 49 passengers, and the smaller Embraer 135 which has 37 seats.

BMI baby

Another BMI subsidiary, known as BMI baby, is a low cost airline, providing domestic services within the UK as well as flights from the UK to popular citybreak and sun destinations in Europe. The airline recently moved its Belfast base from Belfast International Airport, 15 miles north of Belfast, to George Best Belfast City Airport which lies just three miles east of the city centre. It flies from Belfast to Manchester, East Midlands and Cardiff, routes on which it competes with Flybe. BMI baby also introduced flights from George Best Belfast City to Stansted in March 2011 after the route was vacated by Ryanair. It plans to begin flights from Belfast to Amsterdam during 2011, and European sun destinations in Summer 2012. BMI baby flights are operated by Boeing 737-300 and 737-500 aircraft.

Onboard BMI and BMI baby

On UK domestic and European shorthaul flights, BMI passengers have a choice of "Flexible Economy" service with complementary refreshments and seats at the front of the aircraft, or "economy" which is a "buy on board" service. BMI regional offers all passengers a flexible economy type service.
Business class remains available on BMI medium and long haul flights, with seats which convert to lie flat beds on the longest routes.
As a low cost airline, BMI baby's onboard service is similar to that of easyJet.