bmi to market Canadian services from Heathrow, Manchester and Glasgow

bmi is to extend its long haul network with the addition of eight Canadian services, through a codeshare agreement with Air Canada.

The airline will offer services from Heathrow to St John’s, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver; Manchester to Toronto and Glasgow to Toronto. Under the codeshare agreement the eight routes will be marketed and sold jointly by both airlines and will all have a bmi designation. Seats will go on sale today for travel from 26 September 2002.

Austin Reid, chief executive officer at bmi said:

“This extension to our codeshare agreement with Air Canada, which was implemented in July 1994, will bring real benefits to bmi customers wishing to travel long haul to Canada.

“The development of these agreements, alongside our membership of Star Alliance, are a continuing part of our strategy to extend our route network across the globe and offer, particularly at Heathrow, a real competitive choice to our rivals. Also, by including Manchester and Glasgow we are demonstrating our commitment to developing our regional offering to passengers.”

bmi also offers onward connections to Air Canada passengers through its extensive UK and European network from Heathrow to Amsterdam, Brussels, Belfast, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds Bradford, Madrid, Manchester and Teesside.

In Canada, Air Canada offers convenient connections to points across Canada and the United States through its extensive North American network.