bmi, British Midland International is to give its Heathrow to Freetown, Almaty and Bishkek flights a major boost with an increase in capacity and a substantially upgraded product from late June.

Effective 25 June, bmi will use a wide-bodied Airbus A330 on its flights from Heathrow to Almaty and onwards to Bishkek on Monday, Thursday and Saturday.  The aircraft will offer 36 Business Class and 196 Economy seats and will replace the leased Boeing 757 that has been operating on these routes. 

Effective from 26 June, flights departing from Heathrow to Freetown on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday will also be operated by the Airbus A330, offering customers the convenience of direct flights with no refuelling stop required.

Business Class customers will benefit from a 60” seat pitch and seat recline of 50 degrees, electronic seat controls, in-seat power, a 15” personal video screen and comfortable noise cancelling headphones. Economy passengers will also benefit from 32” seat pitch with a recline of six degrees and a personal 15” seat back video screen.  A wide range of blockbuster films, TV programmes, music and games channels will be offered throughout both cabins on the in-flight entertainment system.

To celebrate the launch of the aircraft on these routes, the following promotional fares are available now at flybmi.com.

·    Heathrow to Almaty, Business Class from £1,479; Economy Class from £479

·    Heathrow to Bishkek, Business Class from £1499; Economy Class from £499.

Fares can be booked until 30 June and are available for travel until 30 October.

Joerg Hennemann, chief commercial officer, bmi said:

“The move from single aisle aircraft to a longer range, wide-bodied aircraft represents a substantial product upgrade for our customers travelling on these routes. Not only will it provide direct services but will considerably enhance our Business Class offering as well as ensuring that we are delivering a highly competitive product.”

The second A330 aircraft in the bmi fleet is dedicated to bmi’s three Saudi Arabia routes from Heathrow to Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam.