Most of the job losses at the British airline – now fully owned by German flag carrier Lufthansa – will affect cabin crew and other front-line "operational" staff.
Bmi will also cease to operate outbound services to Tel Aviv, Brussels, Kiev and Aleppo as of next January, with flights to Amsterdam being axed in March.
The loss of its Tel Aviv service, which was only launched two years ago, will come as a particularly heavy blow to Heathrow's second largest carrier.
The airline had steadily increased capacity on the route in response to growing demand, with average load factors ranging between 85 and 95 per cent. But following easyJet's introduction of a competing service from London Luton ticket sales have suffered.
In addition to the axed services, bmi will not resume summer flights to Palma and Venice. Its active fleet will be reduced from 39 to 30 aircraft under the new timetable.
Announcing the loss of 600 jobs from a workforce of just 4,400, the airline said: "The move takes place against a background where the airline industry is facing the challenges of a downturn in demand and the worst recession in the UK since records began.
"Heathrow is the main operational base of bmi mainline so the majority of staff impacted upon will be based there." The carrier also refused to rule out further job cuts.
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