Passengers flying bmi between London Heathrow, Manchester and Edinburgh will have less choice from the start of the winter timetable.
According to flybmi.com the cuts start on October 30. That is when the loss making bmi will reduce the number of Edinburgh services from a maximum of eight to six a day between Monday and Friday.
The Saturday frequency drops from six to four while on Sundays bmi will operate five flights to Edinburgh as against seven at present.
A sharper axe is wielded in the case of Manchester. Monday to Friday frequency drops from a maximum of eight to four daily flights while there will be three daily services at weekends as against four at present.
By comparison, British Airways’ rival schedule to both cities remains broadly unchanged over the same period.
The market leader’s only amendment is on the Manchester run where BA will operate five flights on Sunday, as against six today, and six flights on Saturday compared with five today.
For bmi fans it means less choice. But it also means that bmi passengers intending to link with fellow Star Alliance carriers at Heathrow could wait longer for their connections.
Right now bmi’s last Sunday flights depart Manchester at 1740 or 2045 but from October 30 there is nothing after 1600.
In the case of Edinburgh bmi’s last southbound Saturday service from November departs at 1345 which, with a 1510 arrival into Heathrow, means a lengthy wait for passengers taking onward evening long-haul flights.
Passengers may also find their flights to be more expensive because, broadly speaking, fewer seats spell higher prices.
The cuts come after bmi sold six pairs of slots at Heathrow to BA last week and amid gathering speculation that the Lufthansa Group, which owns the airline, is planning to sell it.
Both BA and Virgin Atlantic have said they are interested in buying the carrier.
In a statement, bmi said: “The capacity change has contributed to us being able to offer customers additional services to Morocco, including the additional frequencies from Heathrow to Marrakech and new flights to Agadir.”
“From October 30 we continue to offer a core schedule of six flights a day between Heathrow and Edinburgh. Our Heathrow to Manchester service again retains a core schedule and the timings are suitable for domestic travel and connecting traffic via London Heathrow.”
bmi also said that capacity adjustments from time to time explain why, during October, additional flights to the core schedule operate on certain days.
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