Kingfisher Airlines seeking code-share arrangement with British Airways on domestic routes in India

Kingfisher Airlines, the privately owned airline based in India, is holding talks with British Airways, the flag-carrier airline of the United Kingdom, for a code-share arrangement on domestic routes in India.

If the arrangement materialises, it will be the first such pact between a private airline based in India and a foreign carrier, and will enable British Airways, the second biggest airline in Europe, to book its passengers on flights of Kingfisher Airlines within India

According to sources, Kingfisher Airlines is expected to request permission from India’s civil aviation authorities if and when the negotiations with British Airways are successful.

Media reports quoted a spokesman for Kingfisher Airlines as saying that India’s Ministry of Civil Aviation has already been informally informed of the negotiations taking place with British Airways.

India has not so far permitted code-share arrangements between domestic and international airlines on domestic routes. However, there exists between India and France an informal arrangement that lets Air India and Air France-KLM have limited agreements for 3 destinations within India.

British Airways, the second biggest airline in Europe, operates services to over 170 destinations globally.

Kingfisher Airlines recently obtained permission to operate 7 more international flights from India, in addition to the 7 international services it operates now.

According to Kapil Kaul, chief executive officer of the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation, since Kingfisher Airlines has a smaller network internationally and since British Airways does not operate feeder routes, the code-share arrangement would be a “strategic and practical” way to boost network. As for the passengers, the arrangement would offer seamless travel from a given point in India to any given point outside of India, Kapil Kaul said.

According to aviation analysts in India, the arrangement, if it happens, will mean liberalising India’s rules on civil aviation since all other India-based carriers also will benefit from it.

Analysts said that the move for a code-share arrangement with British Airways will help Kingfisher Airlines compete better with Jet Airways, its major competitor on international routes. They believe that Kingfisher Airlines and British Airways could be aiming at reducing competition from Jet Airways on international routes.

Though British Airways operates 45 flights a week from India, Jet Airways has supremacy on the India-London routes. The international operations of Jet Airways account for 56% of its operational revenues – with an 82.5% load factor for the third quarter of the current fiscal.

For British Airways, India comes next to the United States in terms of revenues – which is a strong incentive for British Airways to tie up with Kingfisher Airlines.

According to the latest figures, the market share of Kingfisher Airlines in the domestic sector has come down.  In January 2010, Jet Airways had a market share of 25.2%, compared to the 22.2% of Kingfisher Airlines.