"BMI Axes Aldergrove - London route"
Belfast Telegraph - 6th February
2003
BRITISH Midland is to axe its service from Belfast International to London Heathrow on March 2, it was announced today.
The decision was announced as bmi said that overall, traffic on its services from Belfast to Heathrow had increased by 45% year on year.
Bmi said that it remained committed to Northern Ireland and was centralising its Heathrow operation at Belfast City Airport.
The airline disclosed last autumn that it was reviewing the future of its three flights a day service from Aldergrove because it has been failing to attract sufficient business patrongage.
Bmi now operates eight flights a day to London from Belfast City, where it has been investing in new facilities, including a £1.5m passenger lounge.
In overall terms, bmi said passenger traffic on its services and those of its no-frills subsidiary bmibaby were up by 11% last year.
A total of 7.8 million passengers were carried, representing a load factor of 64%, up by four percentage points.
The airline, the UK's second largest full-service scheduled carrier, reported that much of the growth had taken place in the second half of 2002.
It said this suggested that confidence was returning to the aviation sector after September 11.
The airline said that bmibaby, which was launched last March, had experienced considerable success and ongoing growth in its first nine months.
It said bmibaby now had hubs at East Midlands and Cardiff, and operated a total of 31 routes.
Among the routes which bmibaby said had performed well were Belfast International to East Midlands.
Austin Reid, bmi chief executive officer, said: "The growth in passenger numbers during the latter half of 2002 owes much to the returning confidence of air travellers following the tragedy in the United States.
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