RIYADH, 23 September 2006 — Seats that can unfold into beds are to be introduced to the business class cabin on all of the bmi’s long haul routes, its Chairman Sir Michael Bishop announced yesterday here at a press conference held at the residence of British Ambassador Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles on Wednesday.
“The introduction of lie-flat beds represents an investment of two million pounds for bmi,” Sir Bishop noted. “We are proud and delighted to be the only British carrier serving Saudi Arabia and are confident that our investment in the introduction of lie-flat beds will create further demand and growth in these routes.”
From next June, bmi’s business-class cabins on its entire fleet of airbus A330 aircraft will feature the beds.
The airline operates three weekly flights from Jeddah and two from Riyadh with an average of 10,000 passengers traveling monthly to London.
“We will also be reintroducing the A330 onto our Riyadh and Jeddah routes from next spring,” he said.
The airline is making arrangements to ferry Haj and Umrah pilgrims by bmi from London.
While introducing the bmi chief to newsmen, Ambassador Sir Cowper-Coles said Sir Bishop was here to meet senior government officials to attract more Saudis to the United Kingdom as tourists.
During his brief visit, Sir Bishop had talks with Prince Sultan, secretary general of the Supreme Commission for Tourism, and senior officials from the Civil Aviation Authority. Ambassador Cowper-Coles hosted a reception in honor of Sir Bishop which was attended by Saudi businessmen and members of the British community.