British Airways (London) and the IAG have won their fight against Virgin Atlantic Airways (London) for the acquisition of BMI (East Midlands) and the valuable slots at London’s Heathrow Airport. The takeover of BMI from Lufthansa (Frankfurt) has been approved by the European Commission with conditions – British Airways will have to give up 14 slot pairs at London (Heathrow). However this is somewhat mute of an issue since BA will gain an additional 42 slot pairs with the BMI acquisition. Bottom line: Virgin Atlantic loses this battle with BA and the BMI brand will quickly be replaced with the BA livery. BA/IAG is expected to close on the deal around April 20. Goodbye BMI. LHR will certainly become a BA fortress hub.
Subsidiary bmibaby will not be part of this deal.
Read the full story from The Guardian: CLICK HERE
The BBC asks the question of whether BA/IAG gave up enough for BMI: CLICK HERE
BMI Slide Show: CLICK HERE
British Airways Slide Show: CLICK HERE
Virgin Atlantic Slide Show: CLICK HERE
Filed under: bmi, bmibaby (bmibaby.com), British Airways, IAG, Lufthansa, Virgin Atlantic Airways Tagged: bmi, bmibaby, British Airways, IAG, Lufthansa, Virgin Atlantic Airways
