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bmibaby celebrates 7 years at East Midlands Airport

21st April 2009 Print
Low cost airline, bmibaby has celebrated seven years of flying from East Midlands Airport. Since launch the airline has carried over 8.7 million passengers to and from the airport.

As a double celebration, bmibaby last month welcomed passengers on its brand new service from East Midland to Almeria, and over the summer months the airline expects to carry over 28,400 passengers on this new route.

bmibaby was born at East Midlands Airport in 2002 and started operations with just one aircraft, flying to just one destination - Malaga. Seven years on the airline now has five Boeing 737 aircraft based at the airport and offers a choice of 14 destinations, with over 220 weekly flights to and from the airport during the peak summer season. This year the airline will fly to two brand new destinations from East Midlands Airport - Almeria and Menorca, and bmibaby is the only low cost carrier to fly from the airport to these destinations.

In seven years bmibaby has had a substantial impact on the local economy, creating over 300 jobs directly with the airline and many more in support services. The airline has also brought a large volume of inbound tourists to the East Midlands, and works closely with regional tourist boards and Visit Britain to drive inbound tourism to the Midlands.

bmibaby has enabled local businesses to fly to key European destinations at low fares, and in response to customer feedback the airline launched a set of services tailored to the needs of today’s business traveller.

All passengers booking a flight on bmibaby can benefit from flexible flights - if a meeting finishes sooner than expected and a passenger can make it to the airport, they can catch an earlier flight home providing seats are available and it won’t cost a penny. Alternatively if a passenger gets delayed and misses their flight, they can pay a fixed fee of £35 to move to a later flight providing seats are available. All passengers can also benefit from on line check in, executive lounge access, and the reassurance of knowing that a seat will be reserved for them.

In addition, passengers can join the UK’s most generous frequent flyer programme - bmi diamond club. bmibaby passengers can earn destinations miles every time they buy a flight with the airline which can then be spent on over 850 destinations worldwide through bmi diamond club’s membership of the Star Alliance network.

Crawford Rix, managing director, bmibaby, said:

“We are very proud of what bmibaby has achieved in seven years of flying from East Midlands Airport. We have established ourselves as the Midlands largest low cost carrier and have continued to add exciting new routes from the region. This year we start flying to Almeria and Menorca which are currently not served from the airport. We have also recently increased capacity on key summer sun routes to the Mediterranean for the peak period and we are looking forward to a busy summer.

“The team at bmibaby are dedicated to providing low cost fares to fantastic destinations and we are committed to flying from East Midlands Airport.”

Stephen Turner, commercial director, East Midlands Airport, said:

"Over the past seven years, bmibaby have grown their route network, offering passengers from the region an excellent range of destinations to visit or travel to on business.

"This summer, bmibaby will begin operating flights to Almeria and Menorca and will increase the frequency of flights to key summer sun destinations in the Mediterranean, allowing passengers a greater choice and more flexibility when booking a summer holiday from East Midlands Airport."

bmibaby is currently on sale to the following destinations from East Midlands Airport: Alicante, Almeria, Amsterdam, Belfast International, Edinburgh, Faro, Geneva, Glasgow International, Jersey, Malaga, Menorca, Nice, Palma and Paris (CDG).

For more information visit bmibaby.com.