|
 |
 | | | | | |||||||||||||||||||||
| | You are in: UK: England | |||||||||||||||||||||||
 | | Saturday, 6 October, 2001, 15:57 GMT 16:57 UK British Midland increases flights  More flights will go from Heathrow to Belfast BMI British Midland airlines has announced it will expand services to Northern Ireland just days after axing 600 jobs. The company, based at East Midlands Airport near Derby, will fly an extra four flights a day from London to Belfast after its rival British Airways decided to abandon all services to the province. Chief executive Austin Reid said the company would operate flights to both airports in Belfast, instead of one, because some passengers preferred to use both sites. Earlier this week the company announced that because of reduced demand after the US attacks it would shed jobs and ground eight of its 62 aircraft during the winter months. 'Strategic opportunities' In August BMI British Midland announced all its flights from London would go to Belfast City rather than Belfast International, to take advantage of new facilities. But management have now said they will retain a presence at Belfast International as well, meaning an additional four daily return flights from London.
BMI British Midland said the move proves it is committed to a comprehensive service to Northern Ireland. Mr Reid said: "I am delighted we have been able to take into account the needs of all Northern Ireland travellers. "We believe that there is a great deal of potential to develop our business from Belfast City Airport from where we will operate the majority of our services. "However we also recognise that some passengers may still have a preference to use an alternative airport when flying to Heathrow." At the time of announcing the job losses chairman Sir Michael Bishop said the company would "increase frequencies or capacity only when strategic opportunities occur". He said the airline industry was in a "volatile phase" and it was impossible to predict "if our prospects will deteriorate or be improved by the actions of other carriers". BMI British Midland employs a staff of 5,500 across the UK with the largest number of jobs at Heathrow. The new timetable will come into force later this month. | |
See also:  Internet links: The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites Top England stories now:  Links to more England stories are at the foot of the page. | |||||||||||||||||||||
|
Links to more England stories |
 | | ^^ Back to top News Front Page | World | UK | UK Politics | Business | Sci/Tech | Health | Education | Entertainment | Talking Point | In Depth | AudioVideo ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To BBC Sport>> | To BBC Weather>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- © MMIII|News Sources|Privacy  |
E-mail this story to a friend