Airline ends vital business link for Scotland
Saturday, 01 Feb, 2011
0
Bmi has confirmed that it will suspend its Heathrow to Glasgow service because of increases in airport operator BAA’s domestic passenger charges at the London airport.
The airline recently warned that the move was in the offing when it met with Scottish MPs to discuss the devastating effect of the new charges which are effective from April 1. The charge is set to rise from £13 to £20.
The seven daily flights between Heathrow and the Scottish city will stop on March 27.
The news will be a blow to the Scottish economy as the service is much used by business travellers.
A statement from Bmi said: “In light of the imposed increases by BAA, Bmi has launched a complaint under section 41 of the Airports Act 1986 and has asked the CAA to investigate BAA as it believes the airport operator is unreasonably discriminating against domestic passengers and domestic operators from London Heathrow.
It added: “Bmi is committed to Scotland and Northern Ireland and regards its UK and Ireland network as part of its core business and will continue to focus on strongholds like Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Belfast City, each operating six times a day, and to Dublin operating five times a day.”
There are 138 Bmi staff at Glasgow airport and the airline has admitted that a number of them are at risk of redundancy.
Meanwhile the airline has also announced that from April it will offer new services from Heathrow to Bergen and Stavanger in Norway and also to Casablanca and Marrakech.
by Dinah Hatch
Dinah
Vegas’s Billion-Dollar Secrets – What They Don’t Want Tourists to Know
Visit Florida’s New CEO Bryan Griffin Shares His Vision for State Tourism with Graham
Chicago’s Tourism Renaissance: Graham Interviews Kristin Reynolds of Choose Chicago
Graham Talks with Cassandra McCauley of MMGY NextFactor About the Latest Industry Research
Destination International’s Andreas Weissenborn: Research, Advocacy, and Destination Impact
Graham and Don Welsh Discuss the Success of Destinations International’s Annual Conference
Graham and CEO Andre Kiwitz on Ventura Travel’s UK Move and Recruitment for the Role
Brett Laiken and Graham Discuss Florida’s Tourism Momentum and Global Appeal
Graham and Elliot Ferguson on Positioning DC as a Cultural and Inclusive Global Destination
Graham Talks to Fraser Last About His England-to-Ireland Trek for Mental Health Awareness
Kathy Nelson Tells Graham About the Honour of Hosting the World Cup and Kansas City’s Future
Graham McKenzie on Sir Richie Richardson’s Dual Passion for Golf and His Homeland, Antigua
ADS PRO 
Clearing CSS/JS assets' cache... Please wait until this notice disappears...
Updating... Please wait...
Qatar Airways offers flexible payment options for European travellers
Airlines suspend Madagascar services following unrest and army revolt
Digital Travel Reporter of the Mirror totally seduced by HotelPlanner AI Travel Agent
Strike action set to cause travel chaos at Brussels airports
All eyes on Qatar as Qatar Airways leads a season of global events