16 July 2008

Bmi to operate ghost flights as industry braces for tough winter

Bmi has admitted that it will fly almost-empty planes out of Heathrow in a bid to retain its coveted airport slots.

The carrier has told The Times that rather than cancel flights as the credit crunch and high fuel costs deplete passenger numbers, it will operate Ã¢â¬Åâœghost flightsÃ¢â¬~.

The airlineÃ¢â¬â¢s deputy chief executive Tim Bye told the paper that he would prefer to cancel the uneconomic flights, usually those in the middle of the day from London to the North of England and Scotland, but that he had to fly that service four fifths of the time under the Ã¢â¬Åâœuse it or lose it" rules.

Green campaigners have called the practise Ã¢â¬Åâœenvironmental vandalismÃ¢â¬~ but industry insiders say near-empty flights are not unusual and most carriers will be forced to make similar management decisions this winter.

By Dinah Hatch

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Your Comments (3)

EEC use sense?

Tom Bowie makes a great point, but there is more chance that the martians will land before the EEC does a sensible logical act

By Rick wilson, Thursday, July 17, 2008
SLOTS TO DIE FOR...

You really have to understand that the lunatics are running the asylum.. Running 'ghost' flights to save prime slots in low season periods is nothing new. Years ago holiday airline British Island Airways, before it went bust, had some of the best slots at Gatwick Airport, there were all kinds of 'dirty deeds' by major carriers (and some of the deeds when carried out on another carrier ended up in court) all to get their hands on these prime properties...slots... Simply there has to be a better way when Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted are all demanding extra flights and runways to be added when in reality many flights could be consolidated, air traffic movements reduced and the slot preserved possibly by temporary seven-day code sharing, but what is currently on the table in these environmentally sensitive times is just plain stupid. An answer? Lack of useage ie if flight activity falls below a certain level kicks off the ghost flight, if the pax airport tax was levied in all cases for say a minimum 30 per cent payload, this would put the slot scenario into perspective and possibly drive down the exchange cash value of slots when the come up for sale, knowing full well that the slot value needs to be put against the extra costs incurred by low capacity winter ghost flights....but we all know this will never happen....sorry BMI carry on ghosting!!!

By JULIAN BRAY, Thursday, July 17, 2008
Is BMI to blame, or is it the EC?

Why are we blaming bmi? EC regulations require that airlines, at congested airports, operate their slots 80% of the time or the WILL lose them. Also EC regulations require compensation of up to E600 per passenger if flights are cancelled. So if bmi cancels a flight with only a 20% load they not only risk losing their slot, they have to pay out some thousands of euros. Perhaps the EC should make some small exceptions to their stupid rules. i.e. Cancelled flights with a load factor of less that 40% (or whatever) would not be subject to use-it-or-lose-it calculations. Also pax would not receive compensation provided they airline got them to their destinations within two hours of original schedule.

By Tom Bowlie, Thursday, July 17, 2008