Faro Airport

UK carriers rush to snap up bmibaby’s planned route closures

British Airways (BA) is preparing to disband bmibaby, the low-cost unit it unwelcomely acquired from bmi after previous owner Lufthansa failed to find a buyer. But as the saying goes: one man’s meat in another man’s poison and the news of bmibaby’s grounding was welcomed by multiple airlines including Monarch, Flybe and Jet2.com, all of which are swiftly stepping in to backfill capacity.

Anemic-turns-dynamic is not exclusive to bmibaby’s network but a development seen following the recent demise of other small- and medium-sized airlines in Europe such as Spanair, Malev and Cimber Sterling. In those cases, competitors have reacted swiftly and within a couple of days to fill the void.

bmibaby’s closure is indicative of a recent development in Europe: the lavish injection of capital in loss-making carriers is coming to a standstill with public and private shareholders alike halting the operations of these entities, mostly small- and medium sized airlines, a trend long overdue and induced by low or no economic growth in most EU countries implementing stark austerity measures, and high fuel prices.

Etihad Airways extends reach with TAP codeshares to Portugal

United Arab Emirates national carrier Eithad Airways has signed a codeshare agreement with TAP Portugal, expanding its global reach a little bit further. Etihad will gain a virtual network in Portugal – where competitors Emirates and Qatar Airways do not have flights to – by codesharing on TAP flights from common European points they both serve to Portugal, which Etihad does not fly directly to. TAP will codeshare on Etihad flights from their common European ports to Abu Dhabi. The agreement will largely force Emirates and Qatar, if they want a presence in the small Portuguese market, to either establish direct routes or partners with less geographically and schedule convenient carriers.

Etihad will place its code on TAP-operated flights from Lisbon to Brussels, Düsseldorf, Faro, Frankfurt, Funchal, Geneva, London, Milan and Porto, in addition to flights from Porto to Brussels and Geneva. In return, TAP will place its code on Etihad Airways flights to and from Brussels, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Geneva, London, and Milan, with the two carriers effectively establishing mini transfer hubs at those airports.