UK airlines looking to secure 21 new flights to India

Airline Industry Information, Nov 12, 2004

AIRLINE INDUSTRY INFORMATION-(C)1997-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD

British Airways, bmi and Virgin Atlantic are battling it out to gain access to the 21 new flights to India being offered by the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

The top executives from each airline are to appear at a CAA hearing to decide the allocation of the 21 new flights, including Virgin Atlantic's Sir Richard Branson, British Airways' CEO Rod Eddington and bmi's chairman Sir Michael Bishop.

The new routes, which include no more than seven each to Delhi and Mumbai and the rest split between other Indian cities, have become available after a new UK-India air services agreement was signed. British Airways has signalled its intention to take all 21 flights while Virgin wants the Mumbai and Delhi flights along with four more to be split between Bangalore and Chennai and bmi wants 13 flights.

A decision on the new routes is expected in the next few weeks, reports IC Liverpool.

((Comments on this story may be sent to aii.feedback@m2.com))