"The Midlands is where we are strongest - it's our heartland and it's where we have grown as a company. We're a relatively small airline on a global stage and want to make sure we dominate the Midlands rather than try and have a small presence in several locations."

 

Lufthansa owned Bmi announced it would be axing its flights from Cardiff and Manchester, but increasing its offerings from East Midlands airport. 

 

"Manchester is a great gateway for passengers from the north – a fantastic airport," said Carr. "But it was very hard to stand out from the other airlines there – we are small in that we only have two planes flying from Manchester, and couldn't have the same sort of impact as others."