bmi ! BD ! BMA

Bmi, filiale de Lufthansa, supprime au moins 600 postes

LONDRES (Reuters) - Bmi, filiale britannique de Lufthansa, va supprimer au moins 600 emplois, abandonner des lignes non rentables et réduire sa flotte afin de surmonter la baisse de la demande et le ralentissement économique.
Davantage de postes pourraient encore être supprimés dans le cadre du plan de restructuration qui doit lui permettre de réduire ses coûts et de doper la productivité de la compagnie aérienne "low cost" britannique.
"Le transport aérien fait face au défi du ralentissement de la demande et de la pire cession au Royaume-Uni jamais enregistrée", explique Bmi. "Il n'est pas impossible que d'autres postes soient supprimés."

Virgin Atlantic appears to be back in the race to buy BMI British Midland. Lufthansa confirmed on Monday that Virgin has made a bid for the loss making carrier and that it now has the same chances as International Airlines Group (IAG).

The development comes as a major surprise, after IAG looked almost certain to be able to come to an agreement with BMI’s current owner, Lufthansa. Last month, Lufthansa confirmed that it had reached an agreement in principle with British Airways parent IAG over the sale of BMI.

The final deal was subject to an agreement of a binding contract, due diligence and regulatory approvals. In early November Lufthansa stated that it expects the contract to be signed over the next few weeks and the transaction to be concluded in the first quarter of 2012.

IAG, like Virgin Atlantic, has been keen to buy BMI mainly because of its large portfolio of London Heathrow slots (8.5%). British Airways has been looking at strengthening its Asian long-haul network using the additional Heathrow access while Virgin Atlantic proposed building up a competing hub-and-spoke network with BMI feed.

Selling BMI to Virgin Atlantic would mean Lufthansa could strengthen a local British Airways rival, while selling to IAG would see its own competition becoming stronger.

BMI has accumulated huge losses over the years and posted an operating loss of €154 million in the first nine months of 2011.

Lufthansa had been very clear when it announced the initial IAG deal that this was the only one it pursued seriously at the time. Industry sources say that Virgin Atlantic may have stepped up its offer while the IAG bid looks like it has hit unexpected obstacles.

BMI’s owner has said that it could sell all of its shares or remain a minority shareholder for a limited time. Separate negotiations are taking place over the sale of BMI Regional and low fare affiliate BMIbaby is also understood to be disposed of separately.