Low fares or no frills airline BMI Baby (usually styled as bmibaby) is instantly recognizable by its well known red and blue logo and its familiar slogan – the airline with tiny fares. So what is the this airline like?
Facts About BMIBaby
Bmibaby is a subsidiary of BMI, and a budget, or low fares, airline. It flies to a number of airports in Europe from its main bases at Birmingham, Manchester, Cardiff, and East Midlands. Although not as large as some of the other no frills airlines, the company is growing and becoming better known. It presently offers flights to 19 European destinations.
In 2007, the airline started an initiative for business travelers with a flexible ‘only choose what you need’ approach. The idea was that passengers had the option to choose from a range of services such as ticket flexibility, on-line check-in, and executive lounge access, and only needed to pay for the services they used
History of BMIbaby
The airline was established on 24th January 2002 and started operations a month later with a flight between East Midlands and Malaga. It soon expanded, opening further bases at Cardiff that same year, and the following year in Manchester and Durham Tees Valley. BMI Baby then began operating from Birmingham in 2005. However, the Durham Tees Valley operation closed in 2006 owing to insufficient passenger numbers.
By 2007, BMIbaby had nine Boeing 737 aircraft based at Birmingham Airport, which was by then their largest base. They now also operate a number of flights from East Midlands Airport.
The BMIBaby Fleet
The airline uses Boeing 737s exclusively, and has 14 Boeing 737-300s, each carrying 148 passengers, and 3 Boeing 737-500s, which can take 131 passengers. The average age of bmibaby’s fleet is 13.7 years. The word ‘baby’ is used in the title of several of the aircraft.
Other BMI Baby Services
BMI baby offers a number of in-flight services, and has a buy on board programme with scratch-cards, toys, and gifts; they also offer drinks, snacks, and sandwiches.
BMI baby was voted the ‘Best No Frills Airline’ in the Telegraph Group Travel Awards for three consecutive years, in 2003, 2004, and 2005. So while not the largest of the low cost airlines, BMI baby is certainly worth considering for anyone looking for a low cost flight to destinations within Europe.
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