EAST NOT WEST

by RAY FLEMING
BMI (formerly British Midland) was one of the British airlines at the forefront of the decade-long battle for liberalisation of the transatlantic market and it was naturally assumed, when the so-called Open Skies agreement was finally reached in March this year, that it would be one of its principal beneficiairies. However, in a surprising change of policy, Bmi has decided to look east rather than west. It plans to run new services from London to a number of Near and Middle East destinations, among them Ankara, Amman, Beirut, Damascus and Tbilisi, with possible later plans for Abu Dhabi, Kiev, Kuwait and Lahore. African routes will also be added, probably to Addis Ababa, Cairo, Dakar, Freetown and Khartoum. If the transatlantic Open Skies agreement meets no obstacles in the US Congress it will enable any European airline to fly to any American airport and for US carriers to enjoy the same freedom in their choice of European destinations. Bmi initially welcomed the agreement and gave the impression that it would start new services to take advantage of it from next March but now seems to have had second thoughts. Industry insiders think that, like most airlines, Bmi had not expected the Open Skies deal to be reached so soon and had already made plans for expansion eastwards. Another view is that the transatlantic market is one of the most competitive in the world whereas the routes to the east that Bmi have in mind offer greater scope for growth.