BMI Regional is poised to start flying as an independent entity at the end of the month after a group of Scottish businessmen paid £8 million for the carrier.
The Aberdeen-based regional arm was offloaded by British Airways’ parent International Airlines Group following its takeover of the overall BMI operations from previous owner Lufthansa.
New executive chairman Ian Woodley, who sold his previous airline Business Air to what became BMI in 1996, told the Financial Times: “At the moment, our strength lies in the fact that we could take over the business at a competitive price.
“It enables us to have a low cost structure. BMI Regional was losing money at the margin because of central overhead costs.”
Two new routes were announced last month – Aberdeen to Bristol and Manchester to Antwerp.
“Our business is about flying outside London,” Woodley said. “There is demand, latent demand, to fly direct to European hubs from these regions.”