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BMED Passenger Reviews and BMED Customer Trip Reports
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Comments for BMED have ended, following the takeover of the airline by bmi British Midland
BMED - by Matt Jakes
18 September 2007 Customer Trip Rating : n/a
Bishek-LHR Club World. Spotless aircraft, with plenty of space to stretch out. IFE worked reasonably
well, with a good selection of entertainment. Cabin crew attentive and professional. Food not as good
as on my outbound leg to Almaty, but not too bad. It'll be interesting to see how BMI manages with
this route when they take over next month.
BMED - by Willie Unger
21 January 2007
I was disappointed by the in-flight crew on my return from Syria. We
had a very rough ride into Heathrow. May people became ill. The other
passengers did much more than the cabin crew. They were not interested.
Also, I was amazed that there were no air sickness bags in the seats.
This is the first time I have seen this.
BMED - by David Byers
14 August 2006
LHR-TAS. Inflight service good - very friendly crew. However, the food
was a big letdown. A pity that all announcements were made only in
English. We were flying to Tbilisi and then Tashkent so maybe not
possible to make announcements in Georgian and Uzbek but at least
Russian should have been used and at least one crew member should have
been able to speak basic Russian. Inflight entertainment OK. I watched
three movies, mainly because I could not sleep owing to sitting in a
bulkhead seat that did not recline. Definitely not good for my bad back.
The main problem was that my luggage did not arrive.
BMED - by D Smith
5 July 2006
LHR-GYD monthly for the last two years, and in general, feel they do a
reasonable job. One team a couple of trips back were probably the best
I've flown with in 40 years of flying. Club seats are reasonably
comfortable, although often have niggling faults. Cabin crew generally
tend to be less aloof than my earlier experiences of 'real' BA staff,
but the informality occasionally extends into the service provision -
bearing in mind the perks the BA staff get over the BMED people, the
latter seem remarkably helpful and cheerful: at least they understand
they are there for your benefit, rather than some of BA's people. Food
is adequate, but as mentioned elsewhere, when does an airline meal ever
taste like proper grub? They have had a habit of missing bags off the
flight, turning up the next day - this has eased somewhat, but seems to
occur in spates. IFE is reasonably good, although the sound system
occasionally lets it down, either through distortion or not being
available. The real bummer is the routine bus transfer both in LHR and
GYD. For the prices they charge on this route (almost always full or
very nearly so), an airbridge at each end would not be too much to ask.
BMED - by Phillip Watson
22 April 2006
Flew BMED LHR-SVX-LHR after flying with Aeroflot and Lufthansa on this
route this was by far the best trip I had. This was the first time I had
flown with BMED/BA and everything was in a different class from the
other carriers. Food was excellent, entertainment was enjoyable on both
legs with a wide choice of films, comedy and music and the cabin crew
were friendly, gave you the feeling they cared about you were and were
there to help you. Drinks and food were available at all times but it
wasn't really required as every hour they went down the airplane and
gave out refreshments,. The plane was on time into Ekaterinberg and 40
minutes early into London, which appeared to catch out some of the
ground crew! It took an hour to get through Heathrow, as they couldn't
find a driver for the steps and the airport only decided to put four
immigration officers at passport control during its most busiest peroid
but that isn't BMED's fault. This route has the convenience of flying
direct and so a 12 hour plus journey with Aeroflot changing at the worst
airport in the world is cut to a pleasant and smooth five hour flight
straight into Heathrow. I do have a few minor gripes. None of the cabin
crew spoke Russian which I think is essential on this flight, and they
did not give out immigration cards for non-Russians entering Russia. The
biggest problem I have is price, I managed to get my tickets during a BA
sale but the normal price is too expensive and I can't see the
justification of such a high price to Ekaterinberg when it is about the
same price to Almaty, the final destination of this flight. I want to
fly direct to Ekaterinberg but until they drop their price I fear the
next time I go to Ekaterinberg I will be fighting of the taxi drivers
again in Shermetevyo.
BMED - by Stuart Boate
20 April 2006
LHR to Baku on 3rd April with the return on the 7th. Economy both ways. This was my last
choice of carrier due to them being £300-£400 dearer than both Austrian or Lufthansa but because of
this they were both full. I have nothing but praise for the BMED crew but LHR is a complete
shambles. Also having paid nearly 50% more I got only 25% of the airmiles 615 for LHR - Baku.
My return was difficult as I had a broken seat on a full plane, the staff were great but there was
nothing they could do, what really annoyed me was taking over an hour after landing at LHR to get a
stand. Many colleagues who do this route regularly also comment on this and after speaking with BMED
staff they confirmed that this is regularly the case that they get appalling support from BAA LHR.
Overall crew were great, commercial arm and BAA were disgusting.
BMED - by
Gavin Elliot
19
August 2005
BMED Heathrow to Yerevan (Armenia) and back, with mixed impressions.
Plane was delayed for an hour outbound with no apparent reason. Return flight was pretty
punctual. Crew helpful and friendly on both flights - I didn't ask them for much, but they went
through their duties politely. Planes were not great and looked a little old in some parts -
the reading lights didn't work on the outbound flight, so the cabin lights were left on the
whole flight. Inflight entertainment pretty limited. On the whole though, no major complaints.
Perhaps I was lucky - my experience was certainly more positive than many of the previous
postings. I'd have no hesitation flying them again, especially given who their competitors are
on some of their routes.
BMED - by avid Springett
18
May 2005
MED from LHR to Baku (business) and return (Econ) 3rd to 6th May 2005. Mistakenly thought that
I was flying BA. Noted a considerable difference immediately on boarding - the attitude of the crew.
Seat outbound Ok but could not sleep at all on this overnight flight, made worse by the very slow
and sloppy food service and a seeming refusal to turn the cabin lights out. Dreadful and a waste of
money. Economy flight on the way back (biz was full) was much better but still sloppy. Food both
ways was awful. Will avoid BMED in the future - they do not deserve to use the BA logos and
branding, since the service is not adequate.
BMED - by Peter
Goodrick
21
April 2005
BMED is introducing an upgraded onboard product to coincide with the arrival in May of a new
aircraft, an A320-200, bringing the fleet to seven aircraft in total.
The aircraft will be fitted with a Next Generation range of enhanced seats in the Club World and
World Traveller cabins. Club World passengers will have On Demand entertainment allowing the
viewer to watch movies, TV and listen to the audio range as and when they choose. A selection of 18
games is also on offer. Larger individual screens measuring 8.4 inches will alsoincrease viewing quality.
For passengers wishing to work on their laptops, every seat will have in-seat power. World Traveller passengers will be able to enjoy
individual seat-back entertainment as well as seating with enhanced headrests.
BMED
- by Raul Nelson
7
December 2004
I travelled LHR-TBS (Tbilisi). The aircraft on both ways was a quite
nice A320. I did find the food to be inedible even on this 5 hour
flight. Also I would like to add that the Italian flight attendants did
seem to have a severe attitude problem. The flight entertainment on this
5 hour flight is satisfactory but having paid such a fare it could be
better. Overall, If you are flying to such poorly connected
destinations like Tbilisi, BMED is a good option. You fly a good Western
aircraft with great British pilots.
British
Mediterranean - by K Jack
9
August 2004
I travelled economy class on British Mediterranean Airways flight BA 6533 on 29/05/2004 from London
Heathrow to Khartoum Sudan via Amman Jordan. On arrival in the Khartoum area it was announced that
due to a sand storm we would be placed in a holding pattern after about 1hour the aircraft attempted
a landing which was aborted and it was announced that we would return to Amman. We
travelled for
another 45 minutes approximately when a further announcement was made that the aircraft would now be
landing in Port Sudan, on arrival it was announced that even though the weather was now cleared in
Khartoum the crew had run out of flying hours and would be unable to fly for 10 hours we would
therefore have to disembark and arrangements would be made for our onwards transport to
Khartoum on
a domestic carrier, some of the passengers including myself expressed our reluctance to travel on a
Sudanese domestic carrier due to the poor safety record, indeed foreign office travel advice mentions
this and it should be avoided.
Some passengers, there were about 25 on board, were reluctant to leave the aircraft and were told
that police would be called to remove them, we were then taken to the arrivals hall where the doors
were locked, our baggage was removed from the hold and the aircraft refuelled, two club class
passengers then appeared on the tarmac retrieved their baggage and boarded the aircraft, the
aircraft took off leaving the remaining passengers behind we were taken to the seediest hotel I have
ever encountered in forty years of travelling the world and subsequently flown , reluctantly,
onwards to Khartoum on an aircraft of dubious origin
On my return to U.K. some six weeks later I contacted BMA regarding the actions of the staff to
the passengers and as to why they had told us they could not fly due to having run out of hours then
took off within the hour carrying two fare paying passengers, after several letters they have yet to
explain their actions. In forty years of flying i have never come across treatment like this not
only by the aircrew but mainly by BMA customer relations staff who have been notably unhelpful
British
Mediterranean - by Andy Coupland
20
July 2004
Arriving at Baku from Bishkek last year on BMed, I arose to leave from my seat for the obligatory
deplaning during refueling. I was four rows from the back, where a young male steward stood
surveying the scene. "Bakoo, anyone for B-ak-oooo?" he cried mockingly in a deeply affected cockney
accent, to the bemusement of the (mainly Kyrgyz) passengers. Apparently unimpressed by the lack of
response from the passengers, he then belched - very, very loudly. The embarrassed air hostess
standing next to him did have the good grace to ask him if he had been taught that on the training
course. Pretty much the worst cabin crew behaviour I have encountered in 35 years of flying.
British
Mediterranean - by Hugh Ghazvini
16
June 2004
Having my return booked (even seat allocated) before departing US, when I was about to leave Tehran
for London on June 14, I was told that I had no seat as I had not re-confirmed my booking (which was
a lie). The argument got so bad that head of local BA was called to investigate. Instead of giving
comfort to the passenger he confirmed that I had no seat. It was when I threatened to sue BA that I
was given a different seat from my booking. When we got on board I saw at least 30% of the seats
were empty. I believe the action of the BA personnel in Tehran was despicable.
British
Mediterranean - by V Mountain
24
May 2004
I have just returned from Azerbaijan on 14th May 2004 on flight BA6618 to Heathrow.
I understand that British Airways are forced to sub contract flights to British Mediterranean, but
every time I fly with this company flights are inevitably delayed. This on its own is an extreme
inconvenience, but on my recent flight form Azerbaijan flying Business Class I was informed that
Business Class had been overbooked and I would be downgraded although I has a pre-booked seat. This
infuriated me as I was the first business class passenger to check in on that flight. Not wanting to
make a seen at check in I accepted my punishment.
Note, Feeling very lucky to be allowed to use the business class lounge, I found
myself seething at
the thought of my downgrade. Then all of a sudden I miraculously was given my pre booked seat back
30 minutes before the flight was due to take off.
As an Export Manager I have to fight to stay in business class owing to company cutbacks etc. Then
to be embarrassed at check in I find this unacceptable from BA. Being a superior Airline I feel I
should have had better treatment.
British
Mediterranean - by Ben Weston
12
February 2004
I've flown with BMed from LHR-BEY (Beirut) on two occasions. The first time I was lucky enough (pre
9/11 days) to get a jumpseat ride for take-off and landing and couldn't say a bad word about the
flight crew. They indulged this plane spotter beyond the call of duty. But in terms of the flight
from a passenger point of view, don't expect much in the way of comfort or space in Y. Seat pitch is
a bit mean and the only IFE is the TV screens above the seats that fold down. Food and crew
attention are both BA-standard, ie average to decent. The saving grace is a direct, minimum fuss
connection to BEY. Both flights were pretty full and on one occasion I offloaded voluntarily
returning from BEY for £150 and a re-route via Athens with another airline. Never again. The MEA
flight to Athens was most pleasant but they sent me with Cronus (who?) Airways from Athens to LHR
and it was horrendous. Lots of messing about in ATH making sure my luggage was transferred, big
queues, rancid old airport, poor AC, six hours sitting about and then a packed out, old 737-400 to
LHR which got me home about 8 hours after I would have if I'd stayed on the Bmed flight.
British
Mediterranean - by Margaret Jasem
10
August 2003
I travelled from Glasgow Airport, via Heathrow, to Beirut. The Glasgow-
Heathrow part of the journey was British Airways and the Heathrow-Beirut was British
Mediterranean
Airways.
I checked in my one piece of luggage at Glasgow and at the same time it was to be routed direct to
Beirut. I boarded the plane at 14.30 and at 16.00 it finally took off. The delay was apparently
due to luggage being loaded.
When I arrived at Beirut I had to wait in a long queue to report that my luggage had not arrived.
Obviously I was not the only person with this problem. There was a second queue of people collecting
luggage that had been "astray" for up to seven days.
The first few days was taken up with trying to telephone Beirut airport and have the call answered!
They knew nothing, was as much as they could tell me. Eventually I had no option but to buy some
clothes.
The seven days holiday was completely ruined because of this situation. I paid $1600 for the tickets
for me and my son.
The situation at the moment is that today, Friday 8th August, 8 days after arriving home, my
suitcase has finally been delivered to me. 15 days after it was checked in at Glasgow Airport.
When my husband travelled the same route three weeks earlier, the same thing happened to him. He
was "lucky", he got his suitcase 48 hours later.
British
Mediterranean - by B Kraft
29
November 2002
I have been flying BMed once a month between LHR and Bishkek for over 6 years
now. The things that I would like to see improved are the meals - they are
truly terrible, almost to the point of being inedible. The tiny movie screens that pop out of the
ceiling - should go to seatback screens for everyone. The limited amount of seating space in the
economy section is poor - why not take out a row of seats and give all a bit more space.
British
Mediterranean - by Samer Saad
02
February 2002
I think that
British Mediterranean
is a very good airline. I like it because the aircraft is like any normal BA
aircraft. But the differences are that the A320s are too small for such routes like
LHR-Beirut
and each economy seat should have a personal TV - like BA aircraft that take you to
Cairo, Tel Aviv, Dubai and Jeddah. So British
Mediterranean
should really start changing their concept so that it avoids
any difference from British Airways.
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