Bmibaby expansion includes Belfast International Airport

Budget airline Bmibaby has announced an increase in flights from East Midlands Airport which will include a new route between the East Midlands and Northern Ireland.

The airline's expansion into Belfast International means the company will have 12 outbound journeys a week from the East Midlands into the province, equating to two journeys a day between Monday and Friday and one on Saturday and Sunday.

The airline's expansion will also include Amsterdam, Brussels, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Paris, Jersey, Salzburg and Toulouse. This will significantly increase its current network of 13 existing routes served from its East Midlands base this year.

Welcoming the move, Albert Harrison, Managing Director, Belfast International Airport said: "We are delighted to welcome bmibaby to Belfast International Airport. This is obviously excellent news for the consumer, offering the Northern Ireland business and leisure traveller greater opportunity to travel at affordable prices and increasing the options for inbound business and tourism to Northern Ireland. We look forward to developing our relationship with the airline over the coming months."

Tony Davis, Managing Director, bmibaby added: "Our announcement is tremendous news and a major boost for people in the Midlands and beyond. From October 27 the region will benefit from an even wider network of low cost flights that will be greater than those on offer from London airports by their home based low cost airlines.

"The route expansion programme that we are putting into place at East Midlands Airport is a clear and unequivocal message by the owners of bmibaby that they have every confidence to invest in the continued success of the airline. The owners of some rival airlines appear not to have had this same level of confidence and have elected rather to sell their business to one of their competitors."

The bmibaby airline's operations commenced on March 20, 2002 from East Midlands Airport to Malaga.

On July 3, 2002 it announced its second UK base at Cardiff International Airport.

(MB)