From humble beginnings nearly 70 years ago, bmi today operates 1,700 flights per week over a network of 46 airports in the UK, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Saudi Arabia.
bmi began life in 1938 as Air Schools Ltd, specialising in RAF pilot training. In 1949 the company became known as Derby Aviation, diversifying operations to include passenger and cargo charter services. In 1959 the company became known as Derby Airways, changing to British Midland Airways in 1964 when it moved to the newly opened East Midlands Airport in 1965.
British Midland Airways further expanded domestic and international passenger services including longhaul destinations throughout the 1970s. The company celebrated a landmark in 1979 when over one million passengers were carried for the first time in a single year.
bmi’s growth continued during the 1980s and passenger carryings were recorded at 1.8M. The company established its headquarters at Castle Donington near East Midlands Airport in 1982, and in 1986 the airline changed its name to British Midland. In 1989, Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) purchased a 24.9% stake in the airline at a cost of £25M.
By the end of the 1990s British Midland enjoyed passenger carryings of over 6.5M a year. In 1992 Scandinavian Airlines increased its share to 40%. In 1993 it became the first European carrier to offer a separate Business Class cabin for business travellers and in 1995 it became the first airline to offer a booking service with payment over the internet. In 1999 Lufthansa acquired a 20% stake in British Midland from the 40% owned by Scandinavian Airlines.
British Midland was rebranded bmi British Midland in 2001, which was subsequently shortened to bmi two years later. In 2002, bmibaby, a low-cost subsidiary with its own unique brand, was launched.
The turn of the century saw a rapid expansion of routes offered by bmi including routes to Washington DC and Chicago, longhaul services to Mumbai, India and Riyadh and Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, and midhaul routes to Moscow Domodedovo. Following the acquisition of BMED in 2007, bmi gained access to 17 midhaul routes to the Middle East, Asia and Africa.
In 2008 bmi successfully launched services from London Heathrow to Tel Aviv and Dammam, strengthening its route network in the Middle East. In May 2008 the bmi group reported revenues of over £1 billion.
In July 2009 Lufthansa took control of bmi with Stefan Lauer replacing Sir Michael Bishop as chairman. Lufthansa's Jörg Hennemann was appointed to the bmi board. All together bmi's Board of Directors now has six members: Stefan Lauer, Nigel Turner, Tim Bye, Jörg Hennemann, Dr. Holger Hätty and Benny Zakrisson