New bmi aircraft to fuel route expansion

A total of ten aeroplanes are set to be added to the bmi fleet as part of the airline's strategy for route expansion, it has been announced.

The carrier said today that it is to buy five Airbus 330 and five Airbus A321 aircraft, with the first of the new planes to be delivered next spring.

As a result of the new fleet additions, bmi will develop more mid and long-haul routes from Heathrow Airport, with the Airbus A321 planes to be used for mid-haul services, an area dealt with by new acquisition British Mediterranean Airways.

Meanwhile, a number of new long-haul routes will be serviced by bmi's fleet of Airbus 330 planes.

"Delivery of ten further aircraft will allow the introduction of new routes and upgrade capacity on existing services in these two important sectors of our business," commented bmi chief executive Nigel Turner.

"Later this year, we will be announcing network plans for our long-haul operations in 2008."

Yesterday, the airline launched a new service from Glasgow to Copenhagen, flying via Leeds-Bradford.

The service departs every weekday morning and has a journey time of less than three and a half hours.

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