bmibaby

[Clarkkent]

There doesn't appear to be much comment about this anywhere - and it won't have a big impact on travelling to and from France - but bmibaby is to cease operations on 10 September - the last services will fly on 9 September.

This is a consequence of the takeover of its parent company BMI by AIG and the likely integration of BMI and British Airways.

[idun]

I am sorry to hear that. I used to catch BMI baby quite regularly at one time, until they took off the flight I used to catch, much to my surprise as it was always full. For a cheap airline I thought that they were good.

[Pickles]

BMIbaby were very good for us a few years ago going to Ireland, though for a variety of reasons the flights we caught were late over 50% of the time (last flight of the day - if anything goes wrong earlier then you're stuck) - and a couple turned into dining-out stories. The aircraft were generally older and a bit more tired, but the staff were always enthusiastic. Unfortunately, in the period leading up to BMI's sale to Lufthansa, BMI really didn't try hard with Baby (BMI didn't have/wasn't prepared to invest the resources necessary), and Lufthansa, having been forced (by a legal agreement, and unwillingly) to buy the shares of BMI that it didn't already own, really had no interest at all in Baby and was allowing it to wither. In the end, I think Lufty was delighted to get rid of the whole lot (at a loss, IIRC) to AIG (BA/Iberia) which really only wants BMI for the Heathrow slots. Because of the uncertainty and lack of direction over the last few years, Baby is loss-making and would take concerted action (meaning more losses in the meantime, more investment, etc) to have a chance of turning round its fortunes. The best that one can say is that rather than the airline going bust, it is at least a managed withdrawal, though I understand that some people who booked flights that have since been cancelled (and are being refunded) may have to buy more expensive flights with other operators if they have already shelled out for accommodation.

I wish the employees good luck.