FlyBMI - gone into administration

[whole diary]

[martyjon]

According to BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) Radio 4 19.00 hours news summary followed by, which I am listening too, Profile on Chris Grayling born on April 1st 1962.

[PhilWakely]

According to BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) Radio 4 19.00 hours news summary followed by, which I am listening too, Profile on Chris Grayling born on April 1st.

Wrong airline!  It is FlyBMI that has gone into Administration

[martyjon]

According to BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) Radio 4 19.00 hours news summary followed by, which I am listening too, Profile on Chris Grayling born on April 1st.

Wrong airline!  It is FlyBMI that has gone into Administration

Well, I did get the FlyB bit right.

[bobm]

Thread title updated to avoid confusion.

[Thatcham Crossing]

The end of the last airline with a link to the British Midland lineage - very sad.

Bristol is (was) their biggest UK^▸ (United Kingdom) base.

[martyjon]

Thread title updated to avoid confusion.

Thanks Bobm, posted before engaging my brain, should've checked with a Beeb website search before posting.

[didcotdean]

Also Loganair which shared the same parent continues.

[broadgage]

Sad for those stranded and for employees thrown out of work, but good news for environment.
Short haul air transport is very polluting, and largely needless when high speed/long distance rail is available, and could become more available.

Despite my dissatisfaction with certain aspects of UK^▸ (United Kingdom) rail travel, I am in general pro-rail and anti-airline on environmental grounds.

The opening of the channel tunnel was a great opportunity that has been largely wasted. Remember the plans for through trains, including sleepers, from for example northern parts of the UK to the southern parts of Europe.

[martyjon]

Sad for those stranded and for employees thrown out of work, but good news for environment.
Short haul air transport is very polluting, and largely needless when high speed/long distance rail is available, and could become more available.

Despite my dissatisfaction with certain aspects of UK^▸ (United Kingdom) rail travel, I am in general pro-rail and anti-airline on environmental grounds.

The opening of the channel tunnel was a great opportunity that has been largely wasted. Remember the plans for through trains, including sleepers, from for example northern parts of the UK to the southern parts of Europe.

Yea, I remember the rolling stock, ordered, delivered, stored at MOD Kineton for yonks and then sold to Via Rail (Canada) for peanuts without giving the through services a trial but then when I can get tickets for a return trip to Glasgow from Bristol and back for a total of £47.97p rail, to me, is NO competition.

[martyjon]

Also Loganair which shared the same parent continues.

Isn't Loganair propped up by Scottish Government subsidies due to their services coverage of the Scottish Islands.

[grahame]

Short haul air transport is very polluting, and largely needless when high speed/long distance rail is available, and could become more available.

Despite my dissatisfaction with certain aspects of UK^▸ (United Kingdom) rail travel, I am in general pro-rail and anti-airline on environmental grounds.

Ditto ... I would add  positives for short (and I do mean short) haul by rail - and that's the time taken to get to the airport and go through procedures, and the relative infrequency compared to trains of most of the routes.   Sadly, rail often seems to be priced out of that market and the question has be be asked "why".

[chuffed]

Two of us are flying from Bristol to Glasgow this afternoon and back on Friday afternoon for less than 100 pounds in little over an hour. Compare with the hassle getting to the station ...when Bristol City are playing Wolves in the 5th round of the cup at 1pm....and then the 6 hour journey north with at least one change. The return journey back on the Friday afternoon of half term hardly bears thinking about. And I haven't even mentioned the cost!.That I have just looked up 93.90 off peak single. So that's almost 4 times the cost of the plane. While the planes are low cost/ quick journey, they will always win out over rail with its high cost/ long journey. If one of those factors was to be reversed it would make the decision of plane over train very much more difficult. As things stand at the moment, its a no brainer... and I say that as a keen rail traveller......

[ellendune]

Also Loganair which shared the same parent continues.

Isn't Loganair propped up by Scottish Government subsidies due to their services coverage of the Scottish Islands.

Propped up - seems to suggest that they are keeping a bad business going, when what they are doing is giving them a contract to provide a necessary service. 

It is just the same as a local authority giving Stagecoach, Go-ahead, or FirstBus contracts to run subsidised local bus services - is anyone saying they are propping up those companies?  Is anyone suggesting that DB^» (Deutsche Bahn - German State Railway - about) being propped up by subsidies given to run Northern Trains? 

[Celestial]

Sad for those stranded and for employees thrown out of work, but good news for environment.
Short haul air transport is very polluting, and largely needless when high speed/long distance rail is available, and could become more available.

Despite my dissatisfaction with certain aspects of UK^▸ (United Kingdom) rail travel, I am in general pro-rail and anti-airline on environmental grounds.

The opening of the channel tunnel was a great opportunity that has been largely wasted. Remember the plans for through trains, including sleepers, from for example northern parts of the UK to the southern parts of Europe.

I'm sorry but to suggest that journey times to Europe are, or even could be, competitive by rail is rubbish.

Flybmi had three flights a day from Bristol to Frankfurt, taking 1 hr 45 min.  I had two full days of meetings in Frankfurt with one night stay.  By rail, it would have taken around 7 hours each way, so taking four days and three nights stay.  Totally inefficient in comparison with air.

Similarly, I can get to Edinburgh and back in a day and have a full day of meetings.  The fact that it costs half the train fare to London is an added bonus.

I'm guessing time isn't as important to you as sitting down, scoffing a Pullman lunch, and enjoying a port whilst enjoying the scenery. Lucky you. That's nice if you can afford the time, but for most people it's an indulgence which they can't afford to do, or else their employer won't let them do.  

[Thatcham Crossing]

Short haul air transport is very polluting, and largely needless when high speed/long distance rail is available, and could become more available.

Sorry, but that's way too simplistic a view Broadgage.

Using Flybmi themselves as an example, they operated a number of routes from Bristol into European business destinations. Business travellers (if they need to travel and not conduct business virtually, which can be the case these days in some circumstances) need to minimise travel time, and that is just not possible if you need to get to somewhere in Europe, or the other end of the UK^▸ (United Kingdom), on a day-return (or even overnight stop) basis. Flying is the only practical way.

Even if we had high-speed trains running from across the UK (London is the biggest but not the only place with a large business-travelling community) through the tunnel to cities all over Europe, it still wouldn't work, if you need to get there and back in a day.

Speaking personally, I use the train where I can - West Berks to Leeds on day-trips around 4 times a year, just about do-able as a day trip, but very expensive and West Berks to Liverpool in a few weeks, as examples, but I also need to get to the Channel Islands and Northern Ireland for days trips, and air is the only way to do it.

Incidentally, every time over the last year, those flights have been cheaper than the train to Leeds!