BMI reports passenger losses
Airline BMI British Midland lost £38 per passenger in the first six months of the year, according to reports.
The Sunday Times reported that BMI, headquartered in Derby, recorded a total operating loss of £105m for the first half of 2011. The figure represents a 29 per cent decline on the first six months of 2010.
The losses were revealed in the results of the airline's owner, Lufthansa. The parent company itself made a slight profit of £2.6m in the first six months.
In a statement, the company said: "In the light of the ongoing difficulties in British Midland’s key markets, an improvement on last year’s operating result looks unlikely at present."
BMI, led by chief executive Wolfgang Prock-Schauer, said it will cut routes including Glasgow, and exchange them for business destinations such as Norwegian oil centres of Stavanger and Bergen.
Lufthansa said: "Our focus is to turn BMI round. We are committed to BMI.
"Of course we want to provide profits, and there is a pressure for BMI to provide that, and everyone at BMI is working hard to do that."
