HOLIDAY IN BEIRUT OR KHARTOUM AS BMI OPENS ROUTES TO EAST
Dan Milmo, transport correspondent
The Guardian
Wednesday September 5 2007
· Airline says UK’s ethnic minorities fuel demand
· Boss admits industry not ready for Open Skies treaty
BMI, the British airline that waged a long campaign for liberalisation
of the transatlantic market, admitted yesterday that it had been
caught out by the Open Skies treaty, which met its demands for
unlimited access to American runways.
The airline said it would not expand its UK-to-US service until 2009
at the earliest as it unveiled its biggest-ever expansion – eastwards
-to destinations including Tehran, Beirut and Khartoum.
Nigel Turner, BMI’s chief executive, denied that the airline had
delayed a new transatlantic strategy because it had not been ready for
Open Skies but said that the entire industry had been caught unawares
when the treaty was signed in March after years of wrangling between
European Union and US officials.
"I think everybody was caught slightly unawares about how quickly
it came in. We have been fighting for Open Skies for 10 years and we
have had many false dawns," he said.
The BMI boss added that it would not be "prudent" to open two new
fronts at once, as the airline unveiled its autumn flight schedule.
"We are going to see what happens in the US. We just want to see
how the US pans out over the next six to 12 months before we make
our decision."
The Open Skies treaty comes into force next March and allows any
EU-based airline to fly to the US and vice versa, ripping up a
decades-old treaty in the UK that limited flights between Heathrow
and New York-JFK to four airlines including British Airways and
Virgin Atlantic.
BMI’s chairman and controlling shareholder, Sir Michael Bishop,
said last month that operational problems at its Heathrow airport
base had contributed to the decision.
BMI’s flight roster has been expanded by the acquisition of BMED,
a BA franchise partner, for £30m earlier this year. It unveiled 17
new routes yesterday to go alongside existing destinations such as
Aberdeen, Brussels and Moscow.
The airline said the new destinations could serve its Open Skies
ambitions by turning its Heathrow base into a hub for onward flights
taking the Iranian, Sudanese and Lebanese diaspora to the US. Other
destinations among the former BMED routes are: Freetown, Sierra Leone;
Tbilisi, Georgia; Almaty, Kazakhstan; and Yerevan, Armenia.
"We will understand the passenger flows a lot more deeply and a lot
more clearly, so we can link the western destinations with the most
profitable eastern destinations," he said.
Peter Spencer, the newly appointed director of BMI’s mainline
operations, said the new destinations would suit leisure travellers
as well as business and family bookings. "These are very exciting
destinations. I have been to quite a few of them in the past 10 years
and they are exciting places to visit."
Asked if the formerly war-torn Sierra Leone would be on his list of
possible holiday destinations, Mr Spencer said: "Why not? It’s about
meeting people and different cultures."
The fares range from £400 for an economy-class return to Beirut, to
£1,625 for a business-class return to the Sudanese capital, Khartoum.
Mr Spencer added that the diversification of Britain’s immigrant
population also generated demand: "We are providing access for what
we call the ethnic markets, for people who have their roots in these
countries. There is also all the business traffic from the increasing
wealth of these countries."
The new flights will operate from Heathrow terminal 1, which will
undergo a revamp next year once BA moves to its new home at terminal
5. The terminal 1 refit will completely reorganise one of the airport’s
most overcrowded terminals, including the provision for more room
for check-in and bag-drop desks.
–Boundary_(ID_G1RTUU0kEaLfR/Zxo/SFtA)–
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
