Bmibaby will cut five aircraft from its fleet of 17 Boeing 737s next year as part of a restructuring plan. This plan, the airline said, will "focus its activities and efforts on routes where there are clear indications and prospects for future growth and development."

The move is bound to impact bmi engineering, which manages both base and line maintenance for bmibaby and recently became the launch customer for Boeing 737 C checks at Lufthansa Technik Sofia.

bmi engineering employs 450 people, the bulk of them at Heathrow and Manchester with smaller complements at Glasgow and Edinburgh. Around 200 are maintenance engineers and technicians.

The low-fare arm of Lufthansa subsidiary bmi expected the restructuring to create 10 pilot and 15 flight attendant positions at Nottingham East Midlands, but conversely put 22 management and support positions plus 54 pilots and 82 cabin staff at Birmingham, Manchester and Cardiff "at risk of redundancy."

The airline said discussions with staff and union representatives already had started, with a view to minimizing job losses "wherever possible."