Second British airline to fly London-Moscow route

MOSCOW, March 31 (RIA Novosti) - Bmi, formerly known as British Midland, is to begin regular flights between London and Moscow, becoming the second UK airline to cover the route, a press-release from the Russian Ministry of Transportation said Friday.

"Representatives of Russian and British aviation authorities concluded new agreements in the sphere of passenger air flights between the two countries," the press-release said. "Both sides during talks in Moscow on March 29-30 agreed to put a new carrier on the London-Moscow-London route."

Currently the only UK company serving the route is British Airways.

Bmi have received a quota to conduct 10 flights weekly between the two capitals, but the quota will be increased up to 14 flights by winter.

Bmi's operational base is London Heathrow, where it holds 11% of all take off and landing slots and operates over 2,000 flights a week.