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BMI starts India flights; Mumbai - London flights in the
offing
BY OUR AVIATION CORRESPONDENT
May 19, 2005: British Midland Airways (BMI), the second largest airline in UK, has commenced Indian operations with the launch of a Mumbai-London (Heathrow) service. With the launch of the service, the privately owned airline has become the third player to start services on the much underserved India-UK flight routes, the others being British Airways and Virgin Atlantic.
BMI intends to provide long haul services on the Mumbai-London sector, and Heathrow its hub for domestic and European operations would also serve as the base for Indian operations.
The direct flight routes between London and Mumbai were underserved as over 53 per cent of the traffic between India and Britain was connected through airports in the Middle East and other places.
To ensure initial momentum, BMI, which is partly owned by Lufthansa, has rolled out an introductory offer of Rs 30,000 for a Mumbai-London trip, while the business class fares hover at around Rs 96,000. The airline flies Airbus A330 aircraft on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays on the route and intends to make it a daily service from October 28, 2005. The airline intends to add Hyderabad and Bangalore as potential new destinations.
BMI is also looking at striking corporate deals both in India and UK, and is also providing travel agents with incentive schemes to increase sales. The airline hopes to garner around 15 per cent to 20 per cent of its market share in a year’s time from this route.
The sales and marketing of BMI in India will be handled by `Discover the World’, the general sales agents of the airline, while off-air operations will be looked after by GSA of Jet Airways. The British airline is also looking at setting up a base in Mumbai and is at present on the hunt for office space.
The carrier is also evaluating options that would allow it to further increase its route network from India to Heathrow.
Speaking at the launch of the service, BMI Chairman Michael Bishop said that the airline was “committed to bringing greater value and choice to a market that had been under-served and short of direct capacity”.
Services to India were launched banking on the `Limited Deregulation” policy announced by the government of India in September 2004 and BMI was granted rights to fly from Heathrow to Mumbai in December last year.
The BMI chairman pointed out the limited deregulation policy would allow greater direct capacity between India and UK, benefiting both British and Indian airlines.
BMI India manager Ravi Pikle said, "Due to our strong network in UK and Europe, we are in a position to offer our passengers free add-ons to any point within the stated regions. This is something that makes us stand apart from other airlines operating in this region."
However, the airline would have to face competition from British Airways, Air India, Virgin Atlantic and Jet Airways, who are already operating on the Mumbai-Heathrow route. Fares on this route are also expected to take a hit due to increased competition and industry analysts expect it to fall by at least 20 per cent after BMI’s entry.
BMI is also planning to convert its three flights a week to daily service by October 28.
BMI’s Menu offered at 38,000 feet
Lunch (Starter)
* Carrot and ginger soup with a hint of lime
* Hot-smoked salmon with pea salsa and creamy dressing
* Grilled goats cheese on crispy croutons with roasted
red peppers
* Spring green salad
Main course
* Honeyed lamb shank with creamy mashed potato, spring
cabbage and baby carrots
* Poached Scottish smoked haddock with parsley potato
cake, poached egg, wilted spinach and hollandaise
sauce
* Murg makhani with saffron pulao and chana masala
served with palak raita
* Paneer makhani with jeera pulao, aloo achari and
daal served with palak raita and naan bread.
BY OUR AVIATION CORRESPONDENT
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