Bmi has confirmed that it will suspend its Heathrow to Glasgow
service because of increases in airport operator BAA's domestic
passenger charges at the London airport.
The airline recently warned that the move was in the offing
when it met with Scottish MPs to discuss the devastating effect of
the new charges which are effective from April 1. The charge is set
to rise from £13 to £20.
The seven daily flights between Heathrow and the Scottish city
will stop on March 27.
The news will be a blow to the Scottish economy as the service
is much used by business travellers.
A statement from Bmi said: "In light of the imposed increases
by BAA, Bmi has launched a complaint under section 41 of the
Airports Act 1986 and has asked the CAA to investigate BAA as it
believes the airport operator is unreasonably discriminating
against domestic passengers and domestic operators from London
Heathrow.
It added: "Bmi is committed to Scotland and Northern Ireland
and regards its UK and Ireland network as part of its core business
and will continue to focus on strongholds like Edinburgh, Aberdeen
and Belfast City, each operating six times a day, and to Dublin
operating five times a day."
There are 138 Bmi staff at Glasgow airport and the airline has
admitted that a number of them are at risk of redundancy.
Meanwhile the airline has also announced that from April it
will offer new services from Heathrow to Bergen and Stavanger in
Norway and also to Casablanca and Marrakech.
