note
Business Air was established in 1987 and started operations from its Aberdeen base in August 1987.
It was bought by British Midland in 1998 and changed name to British Midland Commuter.
In 2001 it changed name once again, this time to BMI Regional.
The airline was owned by Sir Michael Bishop (50%), Lufthansa (30%) and Scandinavian Airlines (20%), but in October 2009 Lufthansa bought 100% stake in the company.
Following the takeover of BMI by Lufthansa in 2009, a restructuring was announced in November of that year which also affected BMI Regional operations. A suspension of loss-making routes and capacity adjustments within the group resulted in BMI Regional having a surplus of three Embraer aircraft in 2010, and the company had begun consultation with staff regarding possible job losses. However, aircraft were leased to other carriers and the aircraft fleet is now at 15 as of February 2011.Went into receivership 16 Feb 2019 after several failed rescue deals and ceased operations.
At the time of closure, bmi Regional which traded as flybmi served 25 cities across Europe and had 376 employees. Airline cited rising fue/emission costs and uncertainty posed by the Brexit as the cause of their demise.
The airline carried 522,000 passengers in 2018 its last full year of operation.
founded - demised (age)
May 14 1987 - February 16 2019 (32)
headquarters
, East Midlands
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base airports
related operators
current /stored fleet (0)
