British Midland says it will offer cheap tc fares if permitted to!
Jun 6, 2000, 12:57 pm
#1
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Original Poster
Join Date: May 1999
Posts: 46,817
British Midland says it will offer cheap tc fares if permitted to!
British Midland says it will offer cheaper transatlantic fares if permitted to fly between Britain and US under a new Open Skies deal. Business pax from London Heathrow to the US paid substantially more than their counterparts from Europe and the differential between them had grown over the last year.
It quoted the cheapest return business class flight from Heathrow to Los Angeles as GBP£5,138 (USD$7,695), compared to GBP£1,673 (USD$2,505) between Milan and Los Angeles, making the British flight 207 percent more expensive. Chairman Sir Michael Bishop said his company undercut existing fares when it entered new short-haul routes and would do the same if allowed to fly to the US. "If British Midland is allowed to commence its own services between Heathrow and the US next spring, we will undercut current fares being offered, just as we have done when we have entered new short-haul routes," he said.
US and British officials are to meet on June 12 to discuss the long-stalled Open Skies agreement. Current agreements allow only British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, American Airlines and United Airlines to operate transatlantic flights from Heathrow.
It quoted the cheapest return business class flight from Heathrow to Los Angeles as GBP£5,138 (USD$7,695), compared to GBP£1,673 (USD$2,505) between Milan and Los Angeles, making the British flight 207 percent more expensive. Chairman Sir Michael Bishop said his company undercut existing fares when it entered new short-haul routes and would do the same if allowed to fly to the US. "If British Midland is allowed to commence its own services between Heathrow and the US next spring, we will undercut current fares being offered, just as we have done when we have entered new short-haul routes," he said.
US and British officials are to meet on June 12 to discuss the long-stalled Open Skies agreement. Current agreements allow only British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, American Airlines and United Airlines to operate transatlantic flights from Heathrow.
