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bmi Commences Mumbai-London Service
Charmaine Fernz - Mumbai
The Indian aviation scenario is suddenly witnessing a spurt
of international carriers and the latest airline to join the bandwagon is British
air carrier bmi. The airline recently launched its four-times-a-week Mumbai-London
service than would be soon converted to a daily service and said it was exploring
the idea of introducing services to other Indian cities.
Elaborating on the launch, Sir Michael Bishop, chairman, bmi said, "It
has long been noticed that the long-haul Indian destinations are under-served
and short of direct capacity. We are also aware that Virgin Atlantic has just
started its Mumbai service but there is always room for all. The introduction
of our new service will bring greater value and choice for Indian customers."
The aircraft operated on the Mumbai-London route would be the Airbus A330. Elucidating
further Bishop said, "We plan to convert the four-times-a-week service
into a daily service by October 28, 2005 if all goes as per our plans. We also
feel that the India - UK market is very unique but a lot of revenue generated
on the Indo-UK route was given away to foreign carriers as the route was served
by third country carriers. In actuality Indian and British carriers should come
forward to take benefit of the increased traffic between the two countries.
On the statistical front, approximately more than 53 per cent of the market
between the two countries has been forced to travel via connecting airports
in the Middle East and this was surely a disadvantage for national carriers
of both countries. However, our USP lies in our domestic connectivity, which
is vast. We are also aware that with the launch of our services we would be
able to provide Indian passengers better fares at affordable rates."
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