bmi Regional CCO Update
bmi regional CCO, Jochen Schnadt, discusses the airline’s partnerships with Loganair and Air Dolomiti and the importance of its Munich hub. He raises the possibility of establishing new hubs elsewhere in Europe and recognises the importance of bmi regional’s relationship with the Lufthansa Group
Transcript
Jochen Schnadt:Look, I think it's a fairly obvious one. I mean, we have developed bmi regional in its own right quite significantly in the last 2 years. Working with partners that are actually a good fit for us and thereby widening our footprint is a very logical step for us. So Loganair is obviously our sister company, and thereby actually extending the bmi network into Scotland and the Loganair Scotland network into Europe makes a— is a natural fit. And Air Dolomiti, of course, as a major operator out of Munich Airport, in particular connecting Italy to Munich Airport, and our engagement in Munich actually creates a natural fit as well. So the Munich hub is very significant to us. It has rapidly become our second main base in bmi regional. We have seen some tremendous growth. We have seen some good resonance to our business model. We see good traction. I think given the catchment area, the wider catchment area of Munich, Bavaria, and even western Austria, the high level of corporate activity in that catchment area, we see a very good fit to our business model. So yes, we are very positive about it and we want to do more. Do we see a replica of this happening in other parts of Europe? Absolutely, if the opportunity is right. I think we are just getting to a position now where the business model we have developed over the last 2 years is showing some really good traction, and I think there are other markets that have similar characteristics that would equally fit well in what we are doing. Very important, like with any other partner. The nice thing is we are an independent company, so we can make our own decisions. We have a brand and a distribution platform that is big enough and prominent enough that allows us to actually act as an independent brand, but we equally recognize that as a niche player, Working with strategic partners such as Lufthansa and Brussels Airlines offers undoubted benefits to us. So I think finding the common area of mutual benefit is the key to it, and we are certainly interested in developing that further. Look, I think it's a natural one. Loganair, as you know, had been operating on the franchise model in the past. They no longer are. They're now a fully independent airline operating on their own brand. Looking at it from a group point of view, to say there are synergies that we can better utilize that we are, you know, now that both companies are actually making their own commercial decisions makes perfect sense, and we will look to explore those further.
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