BMI British Midland's "low cost" offshoot BMI Baby claims to have carried more passengers on its Dublin-East Midlands route in April than its parent did last year.
Managing director Mr Tony Davis said it sold 14,000 seats in April on the route to East Midlands Airport, between Nottingham, Derby and Leicester. It has appointed Dún Laoghaire-based Online Travel as its Irish agent. It handles telephone and internet-based reservations.
The BMI Baby subsidiary was introduced in January as a response to the aviation crisis that followed the September 11th attacks on the US. From the East Midlands hub, it services routes to Barcelona, Faro, Malaga, Murcia, Nice, Palma and Prague, as well as Dublin.
Mr Davis said the airline would carry 150,000 passengers on the Dublin route this year. Its overall projection was to carry more than 500,000 passengers and the Dublin service would be the biggest.
Fares start at €30, increasing to a maximum of €274.58 when demand is at its highest.