OFT rules out investigation of bmi takeover

The Office of Fair Trading has decided not to make a request to the European Commission for a UK review of British Airways' parent IAG's takeover of bmi from Lufthansa.

Instead, it said it would work closely with the European Commission as it assesses whether the proposed transaction raises competition concerns for airline passengers including those travelling to/from airports in Scotland and the North West of England to London Heathrow as well as the overall competitive position at Heathrow.

The OFT said the European Commission was better placed to consider the deal as some of the issues, such as the impact of the acquisition on transfer traffic and the overall competitive position at Heathrow, affect many countries, not just the UK.

Also, the Commission has "extensive expertise", it said, in handling airline mergers, including the merger of British Airways and Iberia in 2010 and the tie up between BMI International and Lufthansa.

OFT director of mergers Sheldon Mills said: "The proposed acquisition of bmi by IAG has generated a significant level of concern in the UK especially in Scotland, the North West of England and Northern Ireland.

"We consider that the transaction should be subject to a careful and detailed review and we will continue to work closely with the European Commission to ensure that UK airline passengers will not lose out through the proposed deal."

With permission from Travelmole

Now that the take over of BMI is finalised with IAG, BMI shall withdraw from Star Alliance on 19th April.

So that is it - just about the end of a once great airline- I look forward to my quick trip to Nice with them on that day and shed a wee tear over my champagne in the lounge!

While the summer schedule is expected to continue, no doubt it will chop and change.

Nivsy

I've bought return flights edinburgh-london heathrow-edinburgh with British Midland, traveling on 15th Dec ard returning 6th Jan They are for my daughter and granddaughters. They are to link up with flights to Australia. How certain can I be of these flights opeating as per the details on the Etickets ?
Alan

Gramps,

I am assuming that the flights have been bought separately to the onward connection Aussie flights?

What airline is operating the Australia flights from Heathrow?

Nivsy

Yes they were bought seperatley. They are flying to Oz with Asiana who I've used before, I think they are both in the Star Alliance, but with the BA takeover, BMs membership will lapse. When I booked the BM flights a couple of weeks ago they were half the price of comparable BA flights on the same dates and times. Likely a sign of whats ahead on the Edinburgh- Heathrow shuttle now that BA has no competition. I am worried regarding what will become of the BM flights that I've already paid in full and hold etickets for.
Alan

800 more jobs at risk following IAG takeover of BMI

A further 800 airline jobs are at risk, it was revealed this week, as British Airways' parent IAG admitted that it is unlikely to find a buyer for loss-making Bmibaby and BMI Regional.

IAG acquired the two subsidiaries as part of its purchase of BMI from German flag carrier Lufthansa, which was conclude last week.

As part of the deal with IAG, Lufthansa had the option to sell Bmibaby and Regional separately, but as it failed to attract any interest IAG agreed to take the lot, but at a vastly reduced price.

A report in the Sunday Times suggest IAG could have paid as little as £20m - more than £150m less than the price originally agreed for the purchase of BMI - in order to take all three airlines off Lufthansa's hands.

IAG always said it was not interested in operating Bmibaby and Regional and that if a buyer could not be found it will close them down, and a report by the BBC today said it was now doubtful it will succeed.

It quotes IAG chief executive Willie Walsh saying he is not confident about a sale. "These are airlines that Lufthansa struggled to sell but we are going to make an effort to sell them," he told the BBC.

He went on to say that the company, which also owns Iberia, was "reviewing all options" and that talk of job losses was premature.

BA has admitted BMI's merger into BA will lead to the loss of up to 1,200 jobs, but that does not include jobs at Bmibaby or Regional.

Virgin Atlantic is appealing against the European Commission's approval of IAG's takeover of BMI.

With permission from Travelmole

Gramps,

the BA take over of BMI is to be fair probably going better than what most imagined. In terms of flights for the summer season, hey are expected to continue under the BMI banner howver that does not really concern you.

I would expect, in line with everything I have heard to date, that BA will honour all BMI flight bookings currently made. Obviously this is likely to mean that flights in December booked with BMI will be operated by BA. Also while they will be honoured, you may find that a flight time change be may be offered to you. As the onward flights to Oz arenot with One World and BMI are no longer part of Star Alliance (terminates end of May for all Star Alliance partners) then I guess there willbe a need to check in bags again at Heathrow for the onward Asiana flight (and same for return as applicable). A terminal change at Heathrow is also likely so any flight offer from Edinburgh needs to ensure that it allows for baggage pick up and check in at Heathrow and terminal change.

Nivsy
Thanks for that, they've got a five hour window going out and are staying overnight in H/row travelodge so , fingers crossed they should be ok. We're going out to Oz ourselves next March but have yet to book the flights, i've a feeling we'll be paying through the nose for the BA shuttle down to London however
Alan

Bmibaby to be grounded

Bmibaby will be grounded from September, with some routes being stopped as early as next month, new owner IAG announced this afternoon.

The move by British Airways' parent will affect almost 500 staff.

IAG said it was still willing to sell the East Midlands-based budget airline, but it said recently it didn't expect to find a buyer for the carrier which is losing £25m a year.

IAG acquired bmibaby along with bmi from Lufthansa, but while bmi is being integrated into BA's mainstream operations, BA has no desire to run the budget airline.

BA said it is more optimistic of being able to sell Aberdeen-based Regional, which it also acquired with bmi from Lufthansa.

"Bmibaby has delivered high levels of operational performance and customer service, but has continued to struggle financially, losing more than £100m in the last four years," bmi's interim managing director Peter Simpson wrote in a letter to all staff.

"To help stem losses as quickly as possible, and as a preliminary measure, we will be making reductions to bmibaby's flying programme from June. We sincerely apologise to all customers affected and will be providing full refunds and doing all we can with other airlines to mitigate the impact of these changes."

Services to Belfast and from East Midlands to Amsterdam, Paris, Geneva, Nice, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Newquay, and from Birmingham to Knock and Amsterdam, will stop on June 11.

The airline is still selling summer flights from East Midlands and Birmingham, but there will be no further flights from September 20.

With permission from Travelmole

Further information now available from bmibaby ... please click here.

David

Another knock in the teeth for independent travellers, especially those using budget airlines. I used BMIbaby to fly from Cardiff and have felt its loss since they pulled out of that airport last summer.

Services to Belfast and from East Midlands to Amsterdam, Paris, Geneva, Nice, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Newquay, and from Birmingham to Knock and Amsterdam, will stop on June 11.

We sincerely apologise to all customers affected and will be providing full refunds and doing all we can with other airlines to mitigate the impact of these changes."

Ouch that's not much notice.

Quote from BMIBaby website:

Will you come to an arrangement with other carriers to transfer our tickets?
We are unable to transfer customers on to alternative airlines including bmi and British Airways.

To rebook elsewhere now is too expensive - will you come to an arrangement with other carriers so they will offer us reduced rate tickets?
We are unable to offer customers preferential rates with alternative airlines, including bmi and British Airways.

EC 261/2004 Article 8 comes into play here, despite what BMIBaby have stated above:

Article 8

Right to reimbursement or re-routing

1. Where reference is made to this Article, passengers shall be offered the choice between:

(a) - reimbursement within seven days, by the means provided for in Article 7(3), of the full cost of the ticket at the price at which it was bought, for the part or parts of the journey not made, and for the part or parts already made if the flight is no longer serving any purpose in relation to the passenger's original travel plan, together with, when relevant,

- a return flight to the first point of departure, at the earliest opportunity;

(b) re-routing, under comparable transport conditions, to their final destination at the earliest opportunity; or

(c) re-routing, under comparable transport conditions, to their final destination at a later date at the passenger's convenience, subject to availability of seats.

2. Paragraph 1(a) shall also apply to passengers whose flights form part of a package, except for the right to reimbursement where such right arises under Directive 90/314/EEC.

3. When, in the case where a town, city or region is served by several airports, an operating air carrier offers a passenger a flight to an airport alternative to that for which the booking was made, the operating air carrier shall bear the cost of transferring the passenger from that alternative airport either to that for which the booking was made, or to another close-by destination agreed with the passenger.

Passengers are entitled to a re-route on either the original carrier or if that is impossible (due to withdrawal of a route for example) on an alternative carrier.

Unless BMIbaby offer affected passengers a suitable re-route or the passenger agrees upfront to take a refund, passengers affected by this should write to BMIBaby in the first instance and give the airline 48 hours notice that unless a suitable re-route is offered, the passenger will book elsewhere and expect the airline to reimburse them for the differential in the fare. I say this because fares with alternative carriers may rise quickly and you will need to mitigate yours and BMIbaby's potential exposure. You would also have to categorically state that you want a re-route and not a refund.

There are a couple of examples below where passengers stood their ground and insisted on their rights under the Regulation and both received recompense by the airline (one of which was BMIbaby).

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/...hlight=lewroll

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/...light=robins66

Phew, you had me worried there for a moment until I went onto the BmiBaby link and saw my flight to Malaga from EMA in June is 'safe'.
Fate would have it, that I was going to book a flight to Malaga for late September this week-end with BmiBaby from EMA.

It would have been nice if Monarch had moved into Doncaster instead of EMA, so I guess I'd better get my skates on and book a flight from EMA with anybody.

Sanji

Not such good news for us - our Prague flights for Sept have been cancelled. Currently trying to find an alternative but glad that I booked my late Sept Malaga flight with Jet2.

BMI Regional sold to Aberdeen consortium:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-18017863

David