British Mediterranean Airways

in 2003 in 2003 British Mediterranean Airways was established as a limited company in 1994 by a group of private investors led by Lord Hesketh. It began operations on 28 October that year. The airline operated the Airbus A320 from London Heathrow to Beirut, Lebanon. On 5 April 2007, G-MEDL was used to return 15 British Navy personnel captured by Iranian forces from Tehran to London Heathrow. Impressions Inflight Magazine The British Mediterranean Airways inflight magazine, titled Impressions, was the first for Ink now one of the world's largest publishers of such periodicals. Sale to BMI Following a period of losses, the airline was bought by BMI for £30 million in February 2007. The acquisition marked a change in strategy for BMI by focusing on more medium to long-haul routes. BMED's route network complemented BMI's existing routes. The British Airways franchise ended on 27 October 2007, when the airline was fully absorbed into BMI branding. Aircraft were gradually repainted in the BMI livery, and flights received BMI's flight codes. As part of the acquisition, BMI sold BMED's Heathrow slots to British Airways for £30 million, to be transferred in late 2008. == Destinations ==

BMED served the following on behalf of British Airways, from their hub at London Heathrow Airport: • Armenia • Yerevan – Zvartnots International Airport • Azerbaijan • Baku – Heydar Aliyev International Airport • Ethiopia • Addis Ababa – Addis Ababa Bole International Airport • Egypt • Alexandria – El Nouzha Airport • Georgia • Tbilisi – Tbilisi International Airport • Iran • Tehran – Mehrabad International Airport • Jordan • Amman – Queen Alia International Airport • Kazakhstan • Almaty – Almaty International Airport • Kyrgyzstan • Bishkek – Manas International Airport • Lebanon • Beirut – Beirut–Rafic Hariri International Airport • Russia • Ekaterinburg – Koltsovo International Airport • Senegal • Dakar – Léopold Sédar Senghor International Airport • Sierra Leone • Freetown – Freetown International Airport • Sudan • Khartoum – Khartoum International Airport • Syria • Aleppo – Aleppo International Airport • Damascus – Damascus International Airport • Turkey • Ankara – Ankara Esenboğa Airport • Turkmenistan • Ashgabat – Aşgabat International Airport • Uzbekistan • Tashkent – Tashkent International Airport ==Incidents and accidents==

• On 31 March 2003, British Mediterranean Airways Flight 6711, an Airbus A320, was involved in a serious incident while approaching Addis Ababa Airport, Ethiopia. The pilots were unaware of a significant discrepancy in the aircraft flight management system position caused by the sole navigational beacon transmitting erroneous data. This same beacon was also being used to navigate the approach. The crew executed a go-around, the Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System (EGPWS) "TERRAIN AHEAD, PULL UP" audio warning was triggered too late to be of any help, and later analysis showed that the aircraft passed within 56 ft (17 m) of terrain at its closest point. The AAIB determined that improper maintenance of the ADS VOR beacon had allowed water ingress causing the erroneous signal, which should have been detected by monitoring equipment, but this had been disconnected during construction work. Also, the Airbus EGPWS design relied on the same positional information as the navigation system. ==Fleet==

The BMED fleet consisted of the following aircraft (at 27 October 2007): • 3 Airbus A320-200 • 5 Airbus A321-200 (further 5 on order) These aircraft were passed on to BMI. ==See also==