Ghost Flights To Be Run By Bmi

Airline bmi - one of the UK's largest has announced that they are to run 'ghost flights' this autumn just to ensure that they keep their operating slots at Heathrow Airport.

Ghost flights operate with very few passengers onboard, an airline such as bmi is required to use 80% of their Heathrow operating slots, otherwise they risk losing them. This results in them having to run flights even if there are only a handful of passengers onboard.

The procedure is highly controversial with environmental groups being critical of the airline for potentially running the flights. The procedures at Heathrow Airport do leave the airlines in a position where they will inevitably run 8 out of 10 flights as the pressure of losing their slots is potentially devastating for an airlines operations. Bmi stating that they would prefer to cancel uneconomic flights however this was not always possible due to the 80% useage rules.

Published by: Jon Vickery