The future of Bmi Regional and Bmibaby remain in the balance as talks with potential buyers continue.
The £172.5 million sale of Bmi by Lufthansa to British Airways’ parent company IAG is set to be completed around April 20 after the European Commission approved the deal last week in return for IAG giving up 14 slots at Heathrow.
But Lufthansa is continuing to talk to potential buyers for both Bmi Regional and no-frills sister airline Bmibaby. IAG has no interest in running these carriers and plans to integrate the main Bmi operation into BA as quickly as possible.
A Bmi spokeswoman said: “With respect to Bmi Regional and Bmibaby, both businesses have attracted interest from potential buyers and discussions continue.
“For both airlines, the sales efforts will continue and the summer schedule will operate as currently planned.”
IAG's chief executive Willie Walsh has also confirmed that it plans to operate mainline Bmi’s summer 2012 schedule and will update customers once the sale has been completed.
Lufthansa announced that it had found a buyer for the Bmi Regional business in October but reports have indicated that the purchaser has had trouble raising sufficient finance to complete the transaction.
The company has also previously announced the signing of non-binding “term sheet” agreements for the potential sale of Bmibaby to both UK and European-based companies. But Bmi has yet to confirm if either of these deals will go through.
Under the terms of the sale of Bmi agreed in December, Lufthansa has the option of selling both Bmi Regional and Bmibaby before completing the transaction with IAG.
But if Bmibaby is not sold by May 2012, then Lufthansa will provide compensation to cover the costs of IAG winding the low-cost carrier down.
IAG has already confirmed that it has drawn up plans of what to do if Bmibaby is included in the purchase.