By Sayan Guha

British Midland International (BMI) airline, the second largest airline operator in London Heathrow – where it holds 10 per cent of all the take-off and landing slots, operates its services in the UK, Europe, Central Asia, Middle East and Africa, has confirmed the importance of its Moscow operations and the Russian market to its business .

BMI has traditionally focused on short-haul services, catering to the domestic market, right since its inception in 1949, though it started mid-haul operations in the 70s. Since it was absorbed in 2009 by German carrier Lufthansa, becoming part of the Lufthansa family; BMI clearly got an advantage over competitors operating mid and long-haul services. The other leading European members of the Lufthansa family are Austrian Airlines – Austria’s national carrier, Brussels Airlines – Lufthansa owns 45 per cent of the Belgian carrier, and Swiss Airlines – the wholly owned subsidiary of Lufthansa.