Bmi is expanding its long-haul network next spring with additional flights to Mumbai and new routes to Jeddah and Doha.On March 23, subject to government approval, Bmi will start flying from London Heathrow to Doha in the Gulf state of Qatar.
On April 22 the airline will boost its London Heathrow to Mumbai flights from four times a week to daily. The following day, Bmi will launch a three times weekly service to the Red Sea port of Jeddah. This will complement the airline's existing three times weekly link to the Saudi capital of Riyadh.
Bmi is short of long-distance planes so it plans to charter aircraft for the new routes. Jeddah and Riyadh will be flown by a Dutch-registered B767 on a damp lease (meaning that the registered airline provides the plane and the cockpit crew) in a 42-seater business and 150-seater economy class layout. Qatar Airways will operate the London-Doha service on Bmi's behalf with the plane type and seating configuration yet to be decided.
Bmi's premium economy product will be withdrawn from the Saudi routes once the B767 arrives. As Business Traveller has already reported, there is a lack of demand for this product in the Saudi market.
However, Bmi will not be offering first class and nor will it have fully lie-flat seating in business class, both of which are popular with wealthy Saudis who continue to miss what British Airways used to provide (BA pulled out of Saudi earlier this year).
"We especially liked BA's flat bed seats in first and business class," a member of the Saudi Royal family told Business Traveller. "We simply want to sleep, not to eat, on the overnight flight to London." Visit www.flybmi.com.
Report by Alex McWhirter
