bmi consider Southampton - Manchester flights
14.06.07
bmi (British Midland) is weighing up a move into Southampton Airport, the Southern Daily Echo had reports. However, the airline was planning to launch flights from the south coast airport by starting a route to Manchester, but rival Flybe appears to have headed this off after yesterday's announcement of a major expansion on the route.
A spokesman for bmi told the newspaper that flights between Southampton and Manchester were one of 'a number of opportunities being evaluated'. But regional low-cost rival Flybe announcing that it will expand its service on the route by 40%, adding another flight and increasing the size of the plane on at least half of the eight daily rotations appears to have scuppered this plan.
It is not the first time Flybe has blocked a move by bmi to launch flights from Southampton. bmi announced plans to launch a service to Amsterdam from the airport in June last year, and it was hoped the route would be the first of many. However Flybe hit back by launching its own service on the route and guaranteed to beat bmi's prices. bmi then scrapped its plans, saying the market was not big enough for two carriers.
It is too early to tell if Flybe's similarly rapid response on the Southampton - Manchester route will be enough to thwart bmi's plans for a second time. A new major airline would be welcomed by Southampton Airport bosses, who currently rely on one big airline customer for much of their traffic. Flybe.
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