bmi Extends Revised Freetown Schedule into Winter

UK carrier bmi British Midland International will continue to use its Airbus A330-200 on flights from London Heathrow to Freetown, the capital of Sierrra Leone, through to the end of the 2011/2012 winter schedule. The airline revealed last month that following the return of one of its widebodied jets from lease, it would introduce the type on its flights to Almaty, Bishkek and Freetown from June 26. However, the amendments were initially only for the remainder of the summer schedules.

bmi currently operates to Freetown four times weekly using an Airbus A321 with an intermediate stop in Malaga, a frequency it was expected to maintain this winter, according to its schedules. The use of the longer-range A330-200 will enable this stop to be eliminated, although frequencies will drop to three flights per week. Approximately 23,000 O&D passengers travelled on the route in the past year, up 5.3 per cent of the previous 12 month period, with bmi accounting for more than 90 per cent of this traffic. This is a high-yield route for bmi as the only operator between the two countries, with average fares of $950 each way.

Schedule:

BD967 LHR1305 – 1950FNA 332 3
BD967 LHR1320 – 2005FNA 332 57
BD968 FNA2345 – 0635+1LHR 332 357