Nottingham East Midlands 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.

easyJet report paints bleak picture of APD effects

British LCC easyJet commissioned research on the UK government’s proposed changes to the already punitive Air Passenger Duty (APD). It paints a bleak picture in which the already tumbling UK air passenger figures drop by a further 3 million p/a, incoming tourist spending reduces by GBP475 million a year and 77,000 jobs are lost. It is a warning to all countries that have upped their aviation taxes, or intend to, although it looks as if the Irish government’s decision to withdraw its tourist tax might become permanent.

bmibaby ceases Cardiff and Manchester operations to expand at Belfast, East Midlands, Birmingham

bmibaby stated it would cease all operations from Cardiff and Manchester Airports at the end of the summer 2011 schedule. As a result, four bmibaby aircraft based at the two airports will be redeployed to Belfast, East Midlands and Birmingham. The airline currently operates 40 weekly services from Manchester and 30 weekly services from Cardiff to European destinations.