News

Bmi poised to operate Saudi routes with B767

20 Apr 2006 by business traveller

Bmi will switch its Saudi Arabian services from an Airbus A330 to a Boeing 767 from next Saturday (April 22). The B767, which is being leased from a Dutch charter will have a different seating layout to the A330 which has operated the Saudi routes since last autumn.

Whereas the A330 operates in a three-class (business, premium economy and economy) layout the B767 will be two class. There will no longer be a premium economy cabin.

The Riyadh flight departs every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday from Heathrow at 0935 to arrive in Saudi Arabia at 1750. The inbound service operates every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday departing Riyadh at 0025 to reach Heathrow at 0525.

The B767 will launch a new three times a week service to Jeddah starting on May 18. Flights (at similar timings to the Riyadh services) will depart Heathrow every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday returning early the next day.

In another move Bmi has surprisingly decided to interline its Riyadh and Jeddah services with British Airways for passengers booking through flights to North America. Logically, one might have thought Bmi would team up with fellow Star Alliance partner United rather than a carrier in a rival alliance (BA being a Oneworld member). On the other hand, BA serves more gateways in the US and Canada than does United.

The tie-up, displayed on the Saudi section of ba.com covers Bmi flights departing Saudi Arabia for North America. Passengers fly Bmi to Heathrow from where they connect with BA to any of 22 destinations in the US and Canada. Executive Club members earn mileage with both Bmi and BA flights (though bear in mind a change of terminals might be required as Bmi flights go into Terminal 1 while most of BA's transatlantic flights depart Terminal 4).

The special interline fares start at SR4,300 (£654) in economy class from Jeddah to New York (via Heathrow) with Jeddah-San Francisco costing SR4,900 (£746). Ticket prices exclude taxes and fees and, at the time of writing, can only be booked through BA's offices in Jeddah or Riyadh. They cannot be booked online.

In other news BA recently raised its UK online booking card fee from £2 to £3, while Bmi has settled with an even higher fee of £4.95 (except for holders of the Bmi credit card). From tomorrow (April 21) BA will increase its long-haul flight fuel surcharge from £30 to £35 per sector. The short-haul surcharge remains the same at £8 per sector.

For more information go to flybmi.com, ba.com

Report by Alex McWhirter

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