Emma Kelly/MANCHESTER
British Midland (BM) has decided to go ahead with plans to launch transatlantic services from Manchester next April, despite the fact it is still awaiting clearance to for US flights from London Heathrow. The move comes ahead of next month's US-UK bilateral talks, which the airline is confident will result in it being cleared for transatlantic services from Heathrow.
BM announced plans to operate transatlantic services from Manchester and Heathrow over two years ago. While there has been an open skies agreement for operations from UK regional airports since 1995, BM's transatlantic ambitions from Heathrow have been thwarted by the Bermuda II agreement, which limits UK carriers on US routes flying from the hub to two.
BM has always said that Manchester services would not be viable without Heathrow ones. "The two are intrinsically linked and we remain firmly of that view," says Sir Michael Bishop, BM chairman. The airline is confident that the next round of bilateral talks - postponed to mid-October due to the "indecision on the part of British Airways regarding its proposed merger with KLM" - will allow it to add Heathrow routes.
Bishop remains "optimistic that this will happen sooner rather than later", with the last round of talks in July being "positive". The UK Government has adopted a "pragmatic approach" to new competition while defending UK interests, he says. By the next round of talks the "true extent of the BA/KLM merger will be clear", which will allow a quick agreement on new competition at Heathrow, he adds. BM would be ready to start services "immediately", but any relaxation in the bilateral would involve a simultaneous start by a US carrier, which could delay BM's launch. "In the next 12 to 18 months, US and UK carriers will launch at the same time," predicts Bishop.
BM will launch daily Manchester-Washington Dulles services on 30 April, followed by daily Chicago connections on 21 May under a codeshare with Star Alliance partner United, with a further 20 US cities operated as codeshares beyond Washington and Chicago. Services will be operated by 244-seat Airbus A330-200s in a three-class configuration. BM will be the only carrier on the Washington route, but will compete with American to Chicago.
The new US services are the first stage of BM and its Star partners' plans to develop the north west England airport as a second hub after London Heathrow. Star carriers serve 22 destinations from Manchester. "The hub concept is at the early stage, but we are talking to our partners," says BM chief executive Austin Reid.
Three A330-200s will be delivered next year, with a fourth set for second quarter 2002. Two of the A330s for 2001 delivery will be used on the Manchester routes.
Source: Flight International
