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| Founded | 24 January 2002 | |||
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| Commenced operations | 22 March 2002 | |||
| Operating bases | ||||
| Frequent-flyer program | Diamond Club | |||
| Fleet size | 14 | |||
| Destinations | 42 | |||
| Parent company | British Midland International | |||
| Headquarters | Donington Hall Castle Donington, England, United Kingdom |
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| Key people | Wolfgang Prock-Schauer (CEO)[1] Stefan Lauer (Chairman)[1] Julian Carr (MD) |
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| Website | www.bmibaby.com | |||
Bmibaby Limited (styled as bmibaby.com) is a British low-cost airline that flies to destinations in the UK and Europe from its bases at Belfast City, Birmingham and East Midlands airports. It is a subsidiary of British Midland International, itself wholly owned by the German airline Lufthansa. Bmibaby's head office is in Donington Hall in Castle Donington, North West Leicestershire, England.[1]
In October 2011 the airline closed its bases at Cardiff and Manchester and opened a new base at Belfast-City. Following the closure of its Cardiff and Manchester bases, the airline plans to expand at all three of its bases for summer 2012.
Bmibaby holds a United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority Type A Operating Licence, and is permitted to carry passengers, cargo and mail on aircraft with 20 or more seats.[2]
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The airline was established on 24 January 2002[3] and started operations on 22 March 2002 with a flight between East Midlands and Málaga.
Continued expansion for the airline led to it opening further bases at Cardiff in October 2002,[4] Manchester in May 2003,[5] Durham Tees Valley in October 2003[6] and Birmingham in January 2005.[7] Insufficient passenger numbers led to the closure of the Durham Tees Valley base in 2006.[8]
On 1 March 2007, the airline announced an initiative for business travellers with an 'only choose what you need' approach, allowing passengers the option to choose from a range of services such as ticket flexibility, executive lounge access and on-line check in, and only pay for the services they used. The company also announced that BMI's frequent flyers could now gain Diamond Club miles.[9]
By 2007, Bmibaby had nine Boeing 737 aircraft based at Birmingham Airport, making it their biggest base, however in December 2008 the airline announced that it would be suspending five routes from the airport as a result of a reduction in the number of customers booking city-breaks.[10]
Further cuts were announced in November 2009 when it was announced that the fleet would be reduced from 17 to 12 aircraft in 2010, with up to 158 jobs at risk of redundancy.[11] The airline said the action was necessary to stem record losses and that it would focus on growth routes best fit for the business.[12] The airline however has 14 aircraft in its fleet at present.
In April 2011, Bmibaby announced it would close its bases at Cardiff and Manchester Airports in October 2011 to increase services at Birmingham and East Midlands Airports as well as opening a new base at Belfast City Airport.[13]
In May 2011, Bmibaby launched what it called the first European airline loyalty programme tied into a location based social network. Passengers use the Gowalla smartphone application at Bmibaby check-in desks to collect points.[14]
On 22 December 2011, International Airlines Group (IAG), announced it had agreed a contract with Lufthansa to buy BMI. The contract allowed for Lufthansa to sell BMI Regional and Bmibaby separately before the completion of the main sale. Should Lufthansa not sell Bmibaby, the total sale price payable by IAG would be reduced.[15]
Bmibaby flies to over 40 airports throughout the UK and Europe from its three bases, all within the UK, at Belfast City, Birmingham and East Midlands Airports. The airline flies to eight UK airports, with services into Edinburgh, Glasgow International, Jersey and Newquay from East Midlands, and London Stansted served from Belfast City. Birmingham and East Midlands are both served by Belfast City, although Birmingham is the only Bmibaby base not to serve other UK airports.
Other popular European destinations served by Bmibaby are within France, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal and Spain.
The Bmibaby fleet consists of the following aircraft in an all-economy class (as of June 2011):[16]
| Aircraft | Total | Passengers (Economy) |
Average Age (years)[17] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boeing 737-300 | 12 | 148 | 14.7 |
| Boeing 737-500 | 2 | 131 | 18.0 |
| Total | 14 | - | 15.2 |
Several aircraft have names with the word baby in the title.[18]
Bmibaby offers a buy on board programme with variety of items to purchase onboard including scratch-cards, tax-free toys and fragrances, gifts as well as hot & cold drinks, snacks, and sandwiches. On non-EU flights, Duty free priced cigarettes and spirits can be purchased. The drinks and snack menu is named the 'Tiny Bites' menu. The Bmibaby inflight magazine is known as Yeah baby!.
The majority of Bmibaby's cabins have shaded blue leather seating with a 28/30" seat pitch. Extra legroom seats will be found on the front rows and on over wing exit rows of all the Bmibaby 737 aircraft.
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