Innovations signal big change at Bmi Regional

SCOTTISH airline Bmi Regional, which changed hands in an £8 million deal earlier this year, will today start operating two new services after ditching its old flight codes.

The carrier has replaced the former British Midland BD designation with a BM code, which chairman Ian Woodley said would help strengthen its credentials as an independent airline.

He added: “We want to see a return to the core values which people associate with a quality flying experience.”

Woodley founded Business Air, which was sold to Bmi in 1996 and became Bmi Regional. The airline is now owned by Aberdeen-based Sector Aviation, which is funded by Bond Offshore Helicopters founders Stephen and Peter Bond.

British Airways parent company International Airlines Group bought Bmi Regional as part of its £172m purchase of Bmi from German airline Lufthansa in April, but decided not to keep the regional business. In June, the group sold the carrier to Sector in a deal that saved more than 300 jobs.

Bmi Regional has a fleet of 18 jets and operates more than 600 flights a week throughout the UK and Europe. Its new routes, which were unveiled last month, will see it operating twice-daily flights from Aberdeen to Bristol and Manchester to Antwerp.