Bmi downgrades domestic services

Bmi is to downgrade services on four domestic routes. Smaller planes will be used and flights will be retimed. It has resulted in Bmi removing aircraft details from its website so, at the time of booking, passengers no longer know which plane type will be operating their flight.

This move affects all Bmi flights network-wide. The affected routes are those linking London Heathrow with Aberdeen, Durham (Teeside), Jersey and Leeds. All four services will become less attractive to passengers starting with the introduction of the winter timetable on October 26.

Not only is Bmi cutting capacity by up to two-thirds but schedule changes make flight timings less convenient. This could prevent passengers from making a day trip and might mean that taking the train, rather than opting for Bmi, will get you to your destination earlier in the day. It could also mean tickets will become more expensive as the price of a flight is directly related to available capacity.

On these four routes Bmi currently operates a mixture of Airbus A319s (seating between 130 and 144 passengers) and smaller Embraer 135 or 145s (seating between 35 and 49 seats).The Embraers tend to be rostered for Bmi's weekend services.