British Midland joined Star Alliance on 1 July 2000.
The turn of the century also marked new growth and optimism as the first-ever scheduled services between Manchester and Washington DC and Chicago were announced and began in Spring 2001.
Chairman Sir Michael Bishop also unveiled the new company name – bmi british midland - and a fresh new livery and brand for the 21st century. In early 2003 the company reverted to the name bmi.
A low-cost subsidiary with its own unique brand – bmibaby – was announced and launched in 2002. By 2005, after just 2 full years of flight operations, bmibaby was carrying over 3 million passengers a year and operating 700 flights a week from 5 UK airport bases.
History was made in August 2004 when one million passengers are carried for the first time in a single month. Route history was made on 14 May 2005 when bmi’s first ever long-haul service from Heathrow took of for Mumbai, India. Further long-haul routes from Heathrow to Riyadh and Jeddah in Saudi Arabia followed in September 2005 and May 2006 respectively.
In August 2005 a radical change was made to domestic and European services at Heathrow with the introduction of a new business model. A single-class service, simpler fares, e-enabled facilities, internet check-in and quicker processes at airports were introduced. Core business routes to/from Heathrow continued to retain a separate economy and business class cabin service – Edinburgh, Glasgow, Belfast, Dublin, Brussels.
In 2006 bmi celebrated five years of transatlantic flights between Manchester and Chicago, a second long haul route to Saudi Arabia was inaugurated – London Heathrow to Jeddah - and bmi announced its first ever medium haul route to take off in autumn 2006 – London Heathrow to Moscow Domodedovo.
In 2007 bmi launched a new route from Heathrow to Jersey, the first direct connection between the island and the world’s busiest international airport for six years. Meanwhile bmi regional launched six new routes: Manchester-Lyon; Leeds Bradford-Lille; Aberdeen-Brussels; Edinburgh-Zurich; Leeds Bradford-Copenhagen; Aberdeen-Kristiansand. British Midland plc, the holding company of bmi announced that it had acquired BA franchise operator BMED, giving it access to 17 medium haul routes to the Middle East, Asia and Africa.
bmi introduced a new business traveller-focused initiative, with an improved offering and product for the airline’s most loyal customers – diamond club members.
bmi group financial results for year end 2006 showed an operating profit increase of 85 per cent to £10.2 million.
bmi’s subsidiary airline, bmibaby celebrated its fifth birthday. On 10 July bmi announced the acquisition of ten additional aircraft to add to its current fleet. Five additional Airbus A330s valued at around $500 million will join the three existing A330 aircraft currently in service, with the new aircraft being delivered from spring 2008.
bmi will also take delivery of five new Airbus A321s valued at $250 million, catering for an expanded medium haul network created through the integration of BMED.
On 18 July, bmi announced the launch of a new route from Heathrow to Cairo. The daily service is to launch on 04 November 2007. The new competitive service will be operated by an Airbus A320 aircraft in a two class business and economy configuration.
September marked the biggest ever expansion of the bmi network when 17 new routes in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East and Northern Africa went on sale, marking the successful integration of BMED into bmi.
Lie-flat beds were introduced in business on long haul flights to the US and Caribbean from Manchester during September. Premium economy was also upgraded, offering a genuine business class seat with more space than competitors.
Continuing its network expansion from Heathrow, bmi announced the introduction of daily direct services to Tel Aviv for March 2008.
bmi warned that regulation authority recommendations of price increases at Heathrow placed under further scrutiny the existence and viability of vital UK regional air links into Heathrow and had the potential of pricing them out of the market.
bmi and United Airlines announced the expansion of their codeshare agreement allowing bmi to add five new US destinations to its codeshare route network from Heathrow – Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington, San Francisco and Denver. The move followed the signing of an Open Skies agreement between the EU and US.
bmi regional announced a new route between East Midlands Airport and Cologne.
March 2008 Network expansion continues for bmi when it successfully launched inaugural services from London Heathrow to Tel Aviv and Dammam respectively
May 2008 bmi group reports revenues up by 13 per cent to over £1 billion.
May 2008 bmi launches an innovative new paperless boarding system, allowing customers checking in online for bmi flights to have their boarding pass delivered electronically to their mobile phone.
June 2008 bmibaby named the UK's most punctual low cost airline.
June 2008 bmi announce it's to increase services to Saudi Arabia following bilateral talks between the UK and Saudi Arabian governments.
August 2008 bmi welcomes Competition Commission’s findings on the break-up of BAA.
October 2008 bmi double the number of services between Heathrow and Moscow Domodedovo.
[Last updated 9 October 2008]