flybmi goes under
Feb 16, 2019, 12:22 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2006
Location: BRS (Bristol, UK)
Programs: LH SEN/*G
Posts: 1,266
flybmi goes under
flybmi has gone under this evening. They operated a number of flights as codeshares for LH and SN, mostly out of BRS and MUC.
It probably brings to a final end the bmi saga, which has been intertwined with Lufthansa over the years.
In the short term, it cuts a few places off from the Star Alliance hubs (again). BRS, EMA, NCL won't have any flights to BRU, and BRS loses virtually all its connections to Germany (FRA, MUC, HAM, DUS).
My experience of bmi was 99% positive, with generally great crews. Their major problem was (imo) a dangerously high rate of cancellations.
If anything good could come out of this, it might be LH coming back to BRS. (SN are due to revert to operating BRS-BRU with at AR85 at end of March, so I guess they may bring that forward).
It probably brings to a final end the bmi saga, which has been intertwined with Lufthansa over the years.
In the short term, it cuts a few places off from the Star Alliance hubs (again). BRS, EMA, NCL won't have any flights to BRU, and BRS loses virtually all its connections to Germany (FRA, MUC, HAM, DUS).
My experience of bmi was 99% positive, with generally great crews. Their major problem was (imo) a dangerously high rate of cancellations.
If anything good could come out of this, it might be LH coming back to BRS. (SN are due to revert to operating BRS-BRU with at AR85 at end of March, so I guess they may bring that forward).
Feb 16, 2019, 12:44 pm
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2006
Location: BRS (Bristol, UK)
Programs: LH SEN/*G
Posts: 1,266
So true. It was the little airline that just kept going and going until one day it couldn't. Sad times.
I have sympathy with the board's statement that Brexit has weighed heavily on the airline. I'm sure they needed more funding, and nobody has the appetite to risk investment on the current level of political crazy in the UK, particularly for an airline so interwoven with Europe.
I have sympathy with the board's statement that Brexit has weighed heavily on the airline. I'm sure they needed more funding, and nobody has the appetite to risk investment on the current level of political crazy in the UK, particularly for an airline so interwoven with Europe.
Feb 16, 2019, 1:54 pm
#4
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Geneva
Programs: LX SEN, AFKL Platinum, BA Bronze,
Posts: 5,610
Like others, as ex-BMI Gold I am a bit sad. Still remember the GUVs and free drinks in Y for Gold. And the LHR T1 lounge and bmi Baby into EMA. Those were different times.
Feb 16, 2019, 3:07 pm
#5
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: Montreux CH
Programs: FB Platinum, M&M FTL, BA Blue
Posts: 11,610
A real pity and I hope there won't be too many more airline collapses for some time now. This one is linked back to bmi International which was previously British Midland. When I was at school and then at university I used to fly with them a lot between Scotland and London, enjoying the great service in those days. Always hated BA for absorbing bmi (as well as Dan Air and BCal). I was hoping they would last and strengthen somehow, but they were flying all those graveyard routes around Europe that Cirrus and Intersky seemed to do.
Feb 16, 2019, 4:38 pm
#7
Moderator: Asiana & Qantas Frequent Flyer
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: STR/SYD/SMF
Programs: QF Lifetime SG, LH HON, OZ Lifetime Diamond +, HH Diamond, Marriott Lifetime Platinum
Posts: 14,367
Feb 16, 2019, 5:06 pm
#8
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2006
Location: BRS (Bristol, UK)
Programs: LH SEN/*G
Posts: 1,266
I've a BRS-BRU due in mid March, booked on an SN ticket. I'm going to see what plays out over the next couple of weeks before working too hard on a Plan B.
Loganair have said they'll continue flying (pointedly mentioning that they use props, not the Embys) and may take over some ex-BM routes, but my guess is that will be things like BRS-ABZ, rather than Germany.
Feb 16, 2019, 5:59 pm
#10
Join Date: May 2005
Programs: BA Gold, AA PLT PRO, AGR, Strawberry (Nordic Choice), Marriott Bonvoy
Posts: 4,244
Can anyone explain the relationship of this flybmi airline to the bmi who were bought by and merged into BA? I didn’t think there was anything left of bmi after that.
Feb 16, 2019, 6:09 pm
#11
Senior Moderator, Moderator: Community Buzz and Ambassador: Miles & More (Lufthansa, Austrian, Swiss, and other partners)
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: 150km from MAN
Programs: LH SEN** HH Diamond
Posts: 29,510
01Jun12 : bmi Regional sold to Sector Aviation Holdings; ends Diamond Club 30Sep12
Feb 16, 2019, 6:48 pm
#12
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: SIN 5 days out of 7
Programs: BD*G, A3*G, BA-S, Accor Gold, IHG Amb
Posts: 5,505
It’s such a shame. I always saw their operations in Europe as a diversification away from UK centric regional ops helping to mitigate risks in market demand. I guess with Brexit the perceived risks actually increased
Feb 16, 2019, 8:37 pm
#13
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 1,481
It‘s Feb 17 and flybmi doesn‘t know if they will be allowed to operate most of their routes after March 29. That is not the same like having the risk to not being allowed to operate these routes. In business you can manage risks, but you can’t manage 100% uncertainty.
Luckily my company is doing very small business with UK customers. It‘s simply impossible to answer any request for proposals as nobody knows how the legal basis will look like.
On the other side the additional funding of the NHS with £350m a week is a great idea, of course.
Luckily my company is doing very small business with UK customers. It‘s simply impossible to answer any request for proposals as nobody knows how the legal basis will look like.
On the other side the additional funding of the NHS with £350m a week is a great idea, of course.
Feb 16, 2019, 8:58 pm
#14
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 11,551
Cross-posting is of course prohibited so I quote my post on European Airlines forum. This Brexit AND the EU killing them off argument is BS as I wrote here:
Flybmi into administration -all flights cancelled
I have fond memories of BM as a bmi flyer, and did quite a few flights in the closing days of BD because they were often put on GLA-LHR.
Now, 522k pax and 29k flights? That's 18 pax on a flight. On the ER3 that's not even 50% LF. And most routes were ER4.
Shameful of the management to blame Brexit nor the EU. If former BD had gone bust this week, they would have blamed Brexit too. It's just too easy.
So many of their routes seemed to make little sense (LUZ-MUC, really?). LH pocketed all the YQ on the codeshares.
Was there a business case? I sincerely doubt it, because they're now bust.
Is there a single GB AOC airline operating intra-EU flights scheduled left? Does BE still do wetleases for SN? I'm struggling to think of one?
Now, 522k pax and 29k flights? That's 18 pax on a flight. On the ER3 that's not even 50% LF. And most routes were ER4.
Shameful of the management to blame Brexit nor the EU. If former BD had gone bust this week, they would have blamed Brexit too. It's just too easy.
So many of their routes seemed to make little sense (LUZ-MUC, really?). LH pocketed all the YQ on the codeshares.
Was there a business case? I sincerely doubt it, because they're now bust.
Is there a single GB AOC airline operating intra-EU flights scheduled left? Does BE still do wetleases for SN? I'm struggling to think of one?