Virgin Atlantic lobbies for domestic flights in India

25 January, 2008:

Virgin Atlantic chief Richard Branson is part of the British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's entourage in India. The UK banks on Branson to help British businessmen lobby for permission to operate on domestic air routes.

Branson’s airline Virgin Atlantic, which had begun operations to India way back in year 2000, has been keen on flying the ever growing domestic sector ever since. The British airline major plans to induct the A380 super jumbo in another three years in the Indian sector.

The company currently operates London-Delhi flights. Richard Branson has met Kamal Nath, India’s commerce and industry minister, twice on this tour renewing his proposal to enter the domestic aviation sector.

The Indian government has not yet opened the sector to foreign players. Virgin is believed to be keen on getting permission from the Indian government to launch its domestic airline service in the country.

According to Branson, as a foreigner he was not allowed to own a domestic airline. He added that he was still lobbying to get permission to launch a domestic airline in India.

Branson now plans to return in the next three weeks to make big announcements on his different Indian ventures, including telecom.

Meanwhile, it has been also reported that India’s own Jet Airways is seen by Branson as Virgin's closest competitor.