Short-haul flights from Heathrow cut by BMI

BMI, the UK airline that operates cheap flights from the UK to Europe the Middle East and the USA is set to announce a reduction in the number of short-haul services that it operates from Heathrow airport.

Over the next two years, the company that currently operates 19 short-haul services plans to cut back on its short-haul services in favour of it’s medium and long-haul operations. The change has been attributed to intense competition on some of the routes from other London airports, the companies purchase of Bmed from BA and the introduction of the new open-skies agreement between the UK, Europe and the US.

BMI’s chief executive Nigel Turner said that the future reductions in short-haul services would likely affect domestic services as well as flights to Spain, these cuts would be in addition to the 25% cut in short-haul services that had already been made over the past 3 years.

The airline is said to be conducting a review of it’s position and considering it’s options following its £30 million purchase of Bmed from British Airways earlier in the year. The acquisition of Bmed gave BMI an additional 17 mid-haul destinations and several slots at Heathrow airport. Sir Michael Bishop, the BMI chairman said that the slots would be returned back to BA in 2009 meaning that BA would need to rethink its services to fit the medium-haul and proposed US routes into the  restricted space at Heathrow.