Flybmi, styled as flybmi, legally British Midland Regional Limited and formerly branded as bmi Regional, was a British
regional airline
A regional airline is a general classification of airline which typically operates scheduled passenger air service, using regional aircraft, between communities lacking sufficient demand or infrastructure to attract mainline flights. In North ...
that operated scheduled passenger services across the UK and Europe. The head office of the airline was at
East Midlands Airport
East Midlands Airport is an international airport in the East Midlands of England, close to Castle Donington in northwestern Leicestershire, between Loughborough (), Derby () and Nottingham (); Leicester is () to the south and Lincoln () nort ...
in
North West Leicestershire
North West Leicestershire is a local government district in Leicestershire, England. The population of the Local Authority at the 2011 census was 93,348. Its main towns are Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Castle Donington, Coalville and Ibstock.
The dist ...
, and it had operating bases at Aberdeen, Brussels, Bristol, East Midlands, Newcastle and Munich.
Flybmi was a former subsidiary of
British Midland International (BMI), which was purchased from
Lufthansa
Deutsche Lufthansa AG (), commonly shortened to Lufthansa, is the flag carrier of Germany. When combined with its subsidiaries, it is the second- largest airline in Europe in terms of passengers carried. Lufthansa is one of the five founding m ...
by
International Airlines Group
International Consolidated Airlines Group S.A., trading as International Airlines Group and usually shortened to IAG, is an Anglo-Spanish multinational airline holding company with its registered office in Madrid, Spain, and its global headq ...
(IAG) on 20 April 2012. Regional was sold to Sector Aviation Holdings in May 2012 and operated as an independent airline from October 2012. In August 2015, the airline became part of a new regional airline group, Airline Investments Limited (AIL), along with
Loganair
Loganair is a Scottish regional airline based at Glasgow Airport near Paisley, Scotland. It is the largest regional airline in the UK by passenger numbers and fleet size.
In addition to its main base at Glasgow, it has hubs at Aberdeen, Edinb ...
.
Flybmi ceased operations and filed for
administration
Administration may refer to:
Management of organizations
* Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal
** Administrative assistant, Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an admini ...
on 16 February 2019.
History
![Saab SF](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/60/Saab_SF.340A_G-GNTC_BD_Cmtr_RWY_23.07.98_edited-2.jpg)
The airline was established in 1987 as Business Air and started operations in August 1987. In 1998 Business Air was purchased by British Midland and became British Midland Commuter. In 2001, it changed its name to bmi regional and later to Flybmi in December 2017.
As a subsidiary of BMI, BMI Regional was owned by
Michael Bishop (50%),
Lufthansa
Deutsche Lufthansa AG (), commonly shortened to Lufthansa, is the flag carrier of Germany. When combined with its subsidiaries, it is the second- largest airline in Europe in terms of passengers carried. Lufthansa is one of the five founding m ...
(30%) and
Scandinavian Airlines
Scandinavian Airlines, more commonly known and styled as SAS, is the flag carrier of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. ''SAS'' is an abbreviation of the company's full name, Scandinavian Airlines System or legally Scandinavian Airlines System Denmark ...
(20%). Lufthansa purchased Michael Bishop's and SAS' stakes in October 2009, taking full ownership of the airline group. A restructuring of the group was announced the following month, which also affected Regional's operations. A suspension of loss-making routes and capacity adjustments within the group resulted in Regional having a surplus of three Embraer aircraft in 2010, and the company began consultations with staff over possible job losses. The excess aircraft were leased to other carriers.
The airline was acquired by Sector Aviation Holdings, a company predominantly owned and funded by Stephen and Peter Bond, whose family sold helicopter operator
Bond Aviation Group
Bond Aviation Group was a British helicopter operator based at Gloucestershire Airport, Staverton. It was purchased by Babcock International in 2014. It incorporated Bond Air Services, now renamed Babcock Mission Critical Services Onshore, and ...
in 2010. Sector Aviation Holdings also included the founders of Regional's predecessor Business Air, Ian Woodley and Graeme Ross. The sale was announced on 1 June 2012.
In 2014 BMI Regional was named the most punctual scheduled airline in the UK for the ninth consecutive year. Based on
Civil Aviation Authority
A civil aviation authority (CAA) is a national or supranational statutory authority that oversees the regulation of civil aviation, including the maintenance of an aircraft register.
Role
Due to the inherent dangers in the use of flight vehicles, ...
statistics, the airline achieved an on-time performance of over 92% in 2013.
On 5 July 2018, BMI Regional rebranded to flybmi.
On the evening of 16 February 2019, Flybmi announced it was to go into
administration
Administration may refer to:
Management of organizations
* Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal
** Administrative assistant, Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an admini ...
and would cease operations immediately.
All flights were cancelled.
In the following days,
Loganair
Loganair is a Scottish regional airline based at Glasgow Airport near Paisley, Scotland. It is the largest regional airline in the UK by passenger numbers and fleet size.
In addition to its main base at Glasgow, it has hubs at Aberdeen, Edinb ...
(also owned by AIL), announced that it was to take over several of Flybmi's routes from Aberdeen and Newcastle.
Ryanair
Ryanair is an Irish ultra low-cost carrier founded in 1984. It is headquartered in Swords, Dublin, Ireland and has its primary operational bases at Dublin and London Stansted airports. It forms the largest part of the Ryanair Holdings family ...
offered rescue fares for stranded customers on some routes and also sought to recruit former Flybmi personnel.
Corporate affairs
Offices
![Bmi regional head office](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/18/Bmi_regional_head_office.png)
At the end of its existence the head office was at Pegasus Business Park on the grounds of
East Midlands Airport
East Midlands Airport is an international airport in the East Midlands of England, close to Castle Donington in northwestern Leicestershire, between Loughborough (), Derby () and Nottingham (); Leicester is () to the south and Lincoln () nort ...
in
Castle Donington
Castle Donington is a market town and civil parish in Leicestershire, England, on the edge of the National Forest and close to East Midlands Airport.
History
The name 'Donington' means 'farm/settlement connected with Dunna'. Another suggest ...
.
Since being founded as Business Air, the company had always had its
Operations Control Centre located at
Aberdeen
Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...
. The occupied building was shared with
CHC Helicopter
CHC Helicopter is a Texas-based helicopter services company.
CHC Helicopter maintains it global headquarters in Irving, Texas and operates more than 250 aircraft in 30 countries around the world. CHC's major international operating units are b ...
which utilises the hangar space for helicopter maintenance and storage for its North Sea fleet. Aircraft maintenance is still carried out at the shared hangar, however all other functions have been moved elsewhere.
Following the purchase of Regional in May 2012, Sector Aviation Holdings took the decision to relocate the company headquarters from Aberdeen to Pegasus Business Park, on the grounds of
East Midlands Airport
East Midlands Airport is an international airport in the East Midlands of England, close to Castle Donington in northwestern Leicestershire, between Loughborough (), Derby () and Nottingham (); Leicester is () to the south and Lincoln () nort ...
. Whilst a subsidiary, some head office functions were provided by British Midland International at its head office in
Donington Hall
Donington Hall is a mansion house set in parkland near Castle Donington village, North West Leicestershire. The Hall and Estate was purchased in April 2021 by MotorSport Vision, which also operates the neighbouring Donington Park racing circu ...
,
Castle Donington
Castle Donington is a market town and civil parish in Leicestershire, England, on the edge of the National Forest and close to East Midlands Airport.
History
The name 'Donington' means 'farm/settlement connected with Dunna'. Another suggest ...
.
The
registered office
A registered office is the official address of an incorporated company, association or any other legal entity. Generally it will form part of the public record and is required in most countries where the registered organization or legal entity ...
was in the Lightyear Building at
Glasgow Airport
gd, Port-adhair Eadar-nàiseanta Ghlaschu
, image = Glasgow Airport logo.svg
, image-width = 200
, image2 = GlasgowAirportFromAir.jpg
, image2-width = 250
, IATA = GLA
, ICAO = EGPF
, type = Public
, owner = AGS Airports
, hub =
*easy ...
in
Paisley,
Renfrewshire
Renfrewshire () ( sco, Renfrewshire; gd, Siorrachd Rinn Friù) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland.
Located in the west central Lowlands, it is one of three council areas contained within the boundaries of the historic county of Renfr ...
,
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
. Previously the
registered office
A registered office is the official address of an incorporated company, association or any other legal entity. Generally it will form part of the public record and is required in most countries where the registered organization or legal entity ...
was at
Aberdeen Airport
Aberdeen International Airport ( gd, Port-adhair Eadar-nàiseanta Obar Dheathain) is an international airport, located in the Dyce suburb of Aberdeen, Scotland, approximately northwest of Aberdeen city centre. A total of just under 3.1  ...
East in
Dyce
Dyce ( gd, Deis) is a suburb of Aberdeen, Scotland, situated on the River Don about northwest of the city centre. It is best known as the location of Aberdeen Airport.
History
Dyce is the site of an early medieval church dedicated to the 8 ...
,
Aberdeen
Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...
, Scotland.
Operations
![Bmi (British Midland) offices - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e8/Bmi_%28British_Midland%29_offices_-_geograph.org.uk_-_971803.jpg)
British Midland Regional Limited held a
Civil Aviation Authority
A civil aviation authority (CAA) is a national or supranational statutory authority that oversees the regulation of civil aviation, including the maintenance of an aircraft register.
Role
Due to the inherent dangers in the use of flight vehicles, ...
Type A Operating Licence, permitting it to carry passengers, cargo and mail on aircraft with 20 or more seats.
After becoming an independent airline, Flybmi changed its callsign from "Kittiwake" to "Midland" and on 28 October 2012 announced that it would be using "BM" as the company IATA airline designator in place of the previously used "BD" which belonged to
British Midland International.
The airline's three main operating bases were
Aberdeen Airport
Aberdeen International Airport ( gd, Port-adhair Eadar-nàiseanta Obar Dheathain) is an international airport, located in the Dyce suburb of Aberdeen, Scotland, approximately northwest of Aberdeen city centre. A total of just under 3.1  ...
and
Bristol Airport
Bristol Airport , at Lulsgate Bottom, on the northern slopes of the Mendip Hills, in North Somerset, is the commercial airport serving the city of Bristol, England, and the surrounding area. It is southwest of Bristol city centre. Built on ...
in the UK, as well as
Munich Airport
Munich International Airport- Franz Josef Strauß (german: link=no, Flughafen München) is an international airport serving Munich and Upper Bavaria. It is the second-busiest airport in Germany in terms of passenger traffic after Frankfurt A ...
in Germany. On 23 January 2014, Flybmi launched a new domestic operation in Norway with an aircraft based in Stavanger. This new service provided the first scheduled direct air link between
Harstad/Narvik Airport, Evenes
Harstad/Narvik Airport ( no, Harstad/Narvik lufthavn; ) is an international airport located in Evenes Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The airport serves the towns of Harstad and Narvik. It is co-located with Evenes Air Station of the ...
and
Stavanger
Stavanger (, , American English, US usually , ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the fourth largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the a ...
, however this service no longer operates.
Along with the operating bases at the time of closure, Flybmi previously had numerous bases throughout the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
with crew stationed at
Edinburgh Airport
Edinburgh Airport is an airport located in the Ingliston area of Edinburgh, Scotland. It was the busiest airport in Scotland in 2019, handling over 14.7 million passengers. It was also the sixth-busiest airport in the United Kingdom by t ...
,
Glasgow Airport
gd, Port-adhair Eadar-nàiseanta Ghlaschu
, image = Glasgow Airport logo.svg
, image-width = 200
, image2 = GlasgowAirportFromAir.jpg
, image2-width = 250
, IATA = GLA
, ICAO = EGPF
, type = Public
, owner = AGS Airports
, hub =
*easy ...
,
Leeds Bradford Airport,
Manchester Airport
Manchester Airport is an international airport in Ringway, Manchester, England, south-west of Manchester city centre. In 2019, it was the third busiest airport in the United Kingdom in terms of passenger numbers and the busiest of those n ...
and
London Heathrow Airport
Heathrow Airport (), called ''London Airport'' until 1966 and now known as London Heathrow , is a major international airport in London, England. It is the largest of the six international airports in the Airports of London, London airport sys ...
. All of these bases had regional routes operated from them along with routes on behalf of
British Midland International (BMI), Heathrow which was solely mainline routes.
A base at
Birmingham Airport
Birmingham Airport , formerly ''Birmingham International Airport'', is an international airport located east-southeast of Birmingham city centre, west-northwest of Coventry slightly north of Bickenhill village, in the Metropolitan Borou ...
opened during May 2013, but on 28 October 2013 it was announced that following a network review the base would close at the end of December 2013.
Using its
Embraer 145
The Embraer ERJ family (for Embraer Regional Jet, model names EMB-135, EMB-140 and EMB-145) are regional jets designed and produced by the Brazilian aerospace company Embraer. The family includes the ERJ135 (37 passengers), ERJ140 (44 passenger ...
aircraft, Flybmi previously operated a number of shuttle services on behalf of aircraft manufacturer
Airbus
Airbus SE (; ; ; ) is a European Multinational corporation, multinational aerospace corporation. Airbus designs, manufactures and sells civil and military aerospace manufacturer, aerospace products worldwide and manufactures aircraft througho ...
. These linked manufacturing sites at
Broughton,
Filton
Filton is a town and civil parish in South Gloucestershire, England, north of Bristol. Along with nearby Patchway and Bradley Stoke, Filton forms part of the Bristol urban area and has become an overflow settlement for the city. Filton Church d ...
and
Toulouse
Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...
. Despite previously having crew based at
Manchester Airport
Manchester Airport is an international airport in Ringway, Manchester, England, south-west of Manchester city centre. In 2019, it was the third busiest airport in the United Kingdom in terms of passenger numbers and the busiest of those n ...
and no scheduled services operating from
Chester Hawarden, Flybmi based crew at Hawarden for the Airbus shuttle flights.
Originally the Airbus shuttle operated to
Filton Aerodrome
Filton Airport or Filton Aerodrome was a private airport in Filton and Patchway, within South Gloucestershire, north of Bristol, England.
Description
The airfield was bounded by the A38 road to the east, and the former London to Avonmouth ...
but following its closure in December 2012, the shuttle operation transferred to
Bristol Lulsgate in January 2013. This had no impact on crew as they were already based at Bristol. The contract for these corporate shuttle flights was won by
Eastern Airways
Eastern Airways, legally incorporated as ''Air Kilroe Limited'', is a British regional airline whose head office is at Humberside Airport near the village of Kirmington, North Lincolnshire, England. It operates domestic, international and p ...
and as a result Flybmi ceased operating these flights in late 2015.
In early 2014, Flybmi commenced a contract to operate a further staff shuttle on behalf of helicopter manufacturer
AgustaWestland
AgustaWestland was an Anglo-Italian helicopter design and manufacturing company, which was a wholly owned subsidiary of Finmeccanica (now known as Leonardo). It was formed in July 2000 as an Anglo-Italian multinational company, when Finmeccanica ...
. This shuttle was previously operated by
Eastern Airways
Eastern Airways, legally incorporated as ''Air Kilroe Limited'', is a British regional airline whose head office is at Humberside Airport near the village of Kirmington, North Lincolnshire, England. It operates domestic, international and p ...
using an Embraer 135 between
Milan Malpensa
Milan Malpensa Airport is the largest international airport in northern Italy, serving Lombardy, Piedmont and Liguria, as well as the Swiss Canton of Ticino. The airport is northwest of Milan, next to the Ticino river dividing Lombardy and ...
and
RNAS Yeovilton
Royal Naval Air Station Yeovilton, or RNAS Yeovilton, (HMS ''Heron'') is an airfield of the Royal Navy and British Army, sited a few miles north of Yeovil, Somerset. It is one of two active Fleet Air Arm bases (the other being RNAS Culdrose) ...
. In 2015 Flybmi chose to operate the route from nearby Bristol Airport instead, thereby enabling them to carry commercial passengers on the route also, as well as upgrading the aircraft type.
In summer 2015 the airline based an Embraer 135 and an Embraer 145 at
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
to operate services to
Bern
german: Berner(in)french: Bernois(e) it, bernese
, neighboring_municipalities = Bremgarten bei Bern, Frauenkappelen, Ittigen, Kirchlindach, Köniz, Mühleberg, Muri bei Bern, Neuenegg, Ostermundigen, Wohlen bei Bern, Zollikofen
, website ...
,
Liège
Liège ( , , ; wa, Lîdje ; nl, Luik ; german: Lüttich ) is a major city and municipality of Wallonia and the capital of the Belgian province of Liège.
The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east of Belgium, not far from b ...
and
Rotterdam
Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...
in conjunction with
Lufthansa
Deutsche Lufthansa AG (), commonly shortened to Lufthansa, is the flag carrier of Germany. When combined with its subsidiaries, it is the second- largest airline in Europe in terms of passengers carried. Lufthansa is one of the five founding m ...
and replacing
Lufthansa CityLine
Lufthansa CityLine GmbH is a German airline with its headquarters on the grounds of Munich Airport. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Lufthansa and maintains hubs at Frankfurt Airport and Munich Airport, from where it operates a dense domestic ...
. This followed the signing of a code-share agreement with Lufthansa in April 2014. During 2015 the service to Liège was cancelled, while a new service to
Brno
Brno ( , ; german: Brünn ) is a city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava and Svratka rivers, Brno has about 380,000 inhabitants, making it the second-largest city in the Czech Republic ...
commenced. In early 2016 a further Embraer 145 aircraft was based in Munich in order to allow them to serve further routes from there bringing the total number to eight.
Business figures
Destinations
As a subsidiary of
British Midland International, the airline operated regional services for its parent. After becoming independent of BMI, the airline completed an entire network review which resulted in numerous route and base closures along with the introduction of a number of new routes during 2012 and 2013.
Flybmi operated scheduled services to 23 scheduled destinations throughout
continental Europe
Continental Europe or mainland Europe is the contiguous continent of Europe, excluding its surrounding islands. It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent, – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and, by ...
including
Scandinavia
Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...
and also
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
. Commencing 30 March 2014, the start of the
IATA
The International Air Transport Association (IATA ) is a trade association of the world's airlines founded in 1945. IATA has been described as a cartel since, in addition to setting technical standards for airlines, IATA also organized tariff ...
Northern Summer Season 2014, the airline operated a scheduled service on behalf of
Brussels Airlines
Brussels Airlines is the flag carrier and largest airline of Belgium, based and headquartered at Brussels Airport. It operates to over 100 destinations in Europe, North America and Africa and also offers charter services, maintenance and crew ...
between
Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
and
Bristol
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
. Previously, Flybmi also operated a scheduled service on behalf of Brussels Airlines between Brussels and
Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to:
*Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England
*Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England
*Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...
.
At the time of closure, Flybmi had
codeshare
A codeshare agreement, also known simply as codeshare, is a business arrangement, common in the aviation industry, in which two or more airlines publish and market the same flight under their own airline designator and flight number (the "airli ...
agreements in place with other airlines. Flybmi operated codeshares with
Lufthansa
Deutsche Lufthansa AG (), commonly shortened to Lufthansa, is the flag carrier of Germany. When combined with its subsidiaries, it is the second- largest airline in Europe in terms of passengers carried. Lufthansa is one of the five founding m ...
on its routes from Bristol to
Frankfurt
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...
and on all of its routes to/from
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
. It also operated a codeshare with Brussels Airlines from both
East Midlands Airport
East Midlands Airport is an international airport in the East Midlands of England, close to Castle Donington in northwestern Leicestershire, between Loughborough (), Derby () and Nottingham (); Leicester is () to the south and Lincoln () nort ...
and Newcastle to Brussels.
Flybmi also operated regular holiday charter flights over the summer months. These destinations included
Bastia
Bastia (, , , ; co, Bastìa ) is a commune in the department of Haute-Corse, Corsica, France. It is located in the northeast of the island of Corsica at the base of Cap Corse. It also has the second-highest population of any commune on the is ...
on the island of
Corsica
Corsica ( , Upper , Southern ; it, Corsica; ; french: Corse ; lij, Còrsega; sc, Còssiga) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France. It is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of ...
on behalf of specialist tour operator Corsican Places, from Bristol, and
Verona
Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Northern Italy, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and the ...
from Bristol on behalf of another specialist tour operator, Inghams. During 2011 Regional aircraft operated, on behalf of BMI, direct flights between
Heathrow Airport
Heathrow Airport (), called ''London Airport'' until 1966 and now known as London Heathrow , is a major international airport in London, England. It is the largest of the six international airports in the London airport system (the others be ...
and
Beja in the
Alentejo
Alentejo ( , ) is a geographical, historical, and cultural region of south–central and southern Portugal. In Portuguese, its name means "beyond () the Tagus river" (''Tejo'').
Alentejo includes the regions of Alto Alentejo and Baixo Alent ...
region of
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
for Sunvil Discovery.
At the end of July 2016 the airline announced an extension to its codeshare agreement with Brussels Airlines by adding seven new routes to its network. This allowed Flybmi to sell fares to Heathrow Airport.
In 2017 Flybmi operated a short-lived twice-weekly service between
Birmingham Airport
Birmingham Airport , formerly ''Birmingham International Airport'', is an international airport located east-southeast of Birmingham city centre, west-northwest of Coventry slightly north of Bickenhill village, in the Metropolitan Borou ...
and
Graz
Graz (; sl, Gradec) is the capital city of the Austrian state of Styria and second-largest city in Austria after Vienna. As of 1 January 2021, it had a population of 331,562 (294,236 of whom had principal-residence status). In 2018, the popul ...
, becoming the first and only direct link between the UK and Austria's second city.
Codeshare airlines
As of closure in February 2019, Flybmi
codeshare
A codeshare agreement, also known simply as codeshare, is a business arrangement, common in the aviation industry, in which two or more airlines publish and market the same flight under their own airline designator and flight number (the "airli ...
d with the following airlines:
*
Air Dolomiti
Air Dolomiti S.p.A. is an Italian regional airline with its head office in Dossobuono, Villafranca di Verona, Italy, operating base at Verona Villafranca Airport and focus cities at Munich Airport and Frankfurt Airport in Germany.[Air France
Air France (; formally ''Société Air France, S.A.''), stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the flag carrier of France headquartered in Tremblay-en-France. It is a subsidiary of the Air France–KLM Group and a founding member of the SkyTeam global air ...]
*
Brussels Airlines
Brussels Airlines is the flag carrier and largest airline of Belgium, based and headquartered at Brussels Airport. It operates to over 100 destinations in Europe, North America and Africa and also offers charter services, maintenance and crew ...
*
Loganair
Loganair is a Scottish regional airline based at Glasgow Airport near Paisley, Scotland. It is the largest regional airline in the UK by passenger numbers and fleet size.
In addition to its main base at Glasgow, it has hubs at Aberdeen, Edinb ...
*
Lufthansa
Deutsche Lufthansa AG (), commonly shortened to Lufthansa, is the flag carrier of Germany. When combined with its subsidiaries, it is the second- largest airline in Europe in terms of passengers carried. Lufthansa is one of the five founding m ...
*
Turkish Airlines
Turkish Airlines ( Turkish: ''Türk Hava Yolları'') is the national flag carrier airline of Turkey. , it operates scheduled services to 340 destinations in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas, making it the largest mainline carrier in the w ...
Fleet
Fleet at closure
As of February 2019, the Flybmi fleet consisted of the following aircraft:
15 aircraft were transferred to sister airline
Loganair
Loganair is a Scottish regional airline based at Glasgow Airport near Paisley, Scotland. It is the largest regional airline in the UK by passenger numbers and fleet size.
In addition to its main base at Glasgow, it has hubs at Aberdeen, Edinb ...
in 2019, while the remaining two were placed into storage.
Planned future fleet
In May 2018 CCO Jochen Schnadt said in an interview with ''Air Transport World'' that the carrier was evaluating adding larger regional jets to the fleet with both the
Bombardier CRJ900
The Bombardier CRJ700, CRJ900, and CRJ1000 are a family of regional jet airliners that were designed and manufactured by Canadian transportation conglomerate Bombardier (formerly Canadair) between 1999 and 2020. Their design was derived from t ...
and
Embraer 190
The Embraer E-Jet family is a series of four-abreast narrow-body short- to medium-range twin-engine jet airliners designed and produced by the Brazilian aerospace manufacturer Embraer.
The E-Jet was designed as a complement to the preceding ...
being considered. In June 2018 it was announced that Flybmi would transfer two
Embraer ERJ-145
The Embraer ERJ family (for Embraer Regional Jet, model names EMB-135, EMB-140 and EMB-145) are regional jets designed and produced by the Brazilian aerospace company Embraer. The family includes the ERJ135 (37 passengers), ERJ140 (44 passenger ...
to its sister company
Loganair
Loganair is a Scottish regional airline based at Glasgow Airport near Paisley, Scotland. It is the largest regional airline in the UK by passenger numbers and fleet size.
In addition to its main base at Glasgow, it has hubs at Aberdeen, Edinb ...
for the start of the S19 schedule.
Former fleet
Flybmi also operated the following aircraft during its existence:
*
BAe 146-300[Wickstead 2014, p. 91]
*
Saab 340
The Saab 340 is a Swedish twin-engine turboprop aircraft designed and initially produced by Saab AB and Fairchild Aircraft. It is designed to seat 30-36 passengers and, as of July 2018, there were 240 operational aircraft used by 34 different o ...
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Fokker 100
The Fokker 100 is a regional jet produced by Fokker in the Netherlands.
The Fokker 100 is based on the Fokker F28 with a fuselage stretched by to seat up to 109 passengers, up from 85.
It is powered by two newer Rolls-Royce Tay turbofans, ...
See also
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List of defunct airlines of the United Kingdom
This is a list of defunct airlines of the United Kingdom.
See also
* List of airlines of the United Kingdom
* List of airports in the United Kingdom and the British Crown Dependencies
References
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{{List of defunct airlines ...
References
Citations
Bibliography
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External links
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{{Portal bar, Scotland, Companies, Aviation
Defunct airlines of the United Kingdom
Defunct airlines of Scotland
Airlines established in 1987
Airlines disestablished in 2019
British companies established in 1987
British Midland International
Former Star Alliance affiliate members
Companies based in Leicestershire
Companies that have entered administration in the United Kingdom