bmi Regional celebrates ten years to Brussels

November 14, 2011 bmi Regional, the UK's most punctual airline, is today celebrating the tenth anniversary of its services from Leeds Bradford to Brussels. Since the launch of the route on 12 November 2001, over 280,000 customers have enjoyed the service and, ten years on, the route continues to grow in popularity.

To help celebrate the anniversary, all bmi Regional passengers flying from Leeds Bradford to Brussels this week will receive a tasty Belgian chocolate gift to enjoy with the airline's compliments. Customers flying between Leeds Bradford and Brussels benefit from conveniently timed schedules, ideal for business or leisure travel as well as onward connections to key cities in Europe with partner airline Brussels Airlines. Steven Griffiths, Business Director, bmi Regional, said: "I am very proud that we have served Brussels with our unique and stylish service for ten years. These two great cities are both important business and tourism centres and following our recent events held in both Leeds and Brussels it is great to see that the route is still as popular as ever." Tony Hallwood, Leeds Bradford Airport's Commercial Director, said: "We are delighted to celebrate the 10th anniversary of this route which follows last month's visit of Leeds City Region (LCR) stakeholders to Brussels. The events in Belgium, organised by Marketing Leeds, provided an opportunity to discuss potential inward investment and drive international trade. Belgium is our region's sixth largest trading partner and the route is a vital link to this important political and economic hub." bmi Regional customers benefit from the speed and comfort of an all jet aircraft fleet and bmi Regional's unrivalled punctuality record; the airline has been officially recognised as the UK's most punctual airline by the CAA for six consecutive years. Competitive business or economy fares are available, with complimentary catering on board for all customers regardless of ticket type plus no charges for baggage or seat selection. Leeds Bradford Airport's Yorkshire Premier Lounge is available to bmi Diamond Club frequent flyer members with Gold and Silver status and at Brussels airport to customers travelling on Business fares. bmi Regional flights are direct between Leeds Bradford and Brussels, with two flights per day offered Monday to Friday and one on Sundays. Fares start from £56 one way including taxes and charges and are available to book at flybmi.com. www.flybmi.com Notes to Editors: Flight schedules · Leeds Bradford - Brussels BD1611 dep 06:25; arr 08:50 (Monday to Friday) BD1615 dep 16:35; arr 18:55 (Monday to Friday, Sunday) · Brussels - Leeds Bradford BD1612 dep 09:50; arr 10:15 (Monday to Friday) BD1616 dep 20:20; arr 20:40 (Monday to Friday, Sunday) · bmi Regional is part of the bmi group which includes British Midland International (bmi), Heathrow's second largest airline and member of Star Alliance. · bmi Regional operates an all-jet fleet of modern Embraer 135 and 145 aircraft and operates to Aberdeen; Brussels; Copenhagen; East Midlands; Edinburgh; Esbjerg; Frankfurt; Glasgow; Groningen; Leeds Bradford; Lyon; Manchester; Norwich and Zurich. · British Midland International is the second largest airline at London Heathrow, one of the world's leading international hub airports. Across its mainline route network bmi operates to Aberdeen; Addis Ababa; Agadir; Almaty; Amman; Amritsar; Baku; Basel; Beirut; Belfast City; Bergen; Berlin; Bishkek; Cairo; Casablanca; Damascus; Dammam; Dublin; Edinburgh; Freetown; Glasgow; Hanover; Jeddah; Khartoum; London Heathrow; Manchester; Marrakech; Moscow Domodedovo; Riyadh; Stavanger; Tbilisi; Tehran; Tripoli; Vienna; Yerevan. · bmi is a member of Star Alliance. The Star Alliance network was established in 1997 as the first truly global airline alliance to offer worldwide reach, recognition and seamless service to the international traveller. Its acceptance by the market has been recognised by numerous awards, including the Air Transport World Market Leadership Award, Best Airline Alliance by both Business Traveller Magazine and Skytrax. The member airlines are: Adria Airways, Aegean Airlines, Air Canada, Air China, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana Airlines, Austrian, Blue1, British Midland International, Brussels Airlines, Continental Airlines, Croatia Airlines, EGYPTAIR, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines, Singapore Airlines, South African Airways, Spanair, SWISS, TAM Airlines, TAP Portugal, Turkish Airlines, THAI, United and US Airways. Avianca-TACA, Copa Airlines, Ethiopian Airlines and Shenzhen Airlines have been announced as future members. Overall, the Star Alliance network offers more than 21,200 daily flights to 1,185 airports in 185 countries. For more information, please contact: bmi press office on 01332 854687 / [email protected]