The Hindu Business Line : bmi starts Mumbai-London service

DEREGULATION of air traffic on the India-UK sector and competitive fares will boost direct, non-stop services operated by British and Indian carriers between the two countries.

According to Sir Michael Bishop, CBE, Chairman, British Midland, the parent company of bmi, non-stop services between India and the UK could see the market grow 30-40 per cent annually, provided Indian and British carriers succeed in drawing traffic towards themselves.

Earlier, in the absence of adequate direct services between them, half the traffic between India and the UK was lifted by carriers from third-countries, many of which are based in the Gulf, said Sir Michael.

Besides bmi and Virgin Atlantic, which have already launched services, Jet Airways and Sahara will also be able to launch their services, as a result of the new bilateral services agreement between the two countries. British Airways won the right to fly to southern destinations such as Bangalore and Hyderabad, he said.

Sir Michael was addressing presspersons at a function to mark the launch of bmi's four-times weekly service between Mumbai and London Heathrow. The airline, he said, hoped to break even on the route in the second year of operations. The first flight from Heathrow took off on May 14.

"The launch of the operations is key to the development of our long-haul route network from Heathrow. Mumbai is an important market in India and is forecast to grow dynamically. India's economic growth will have a positive impact on business and foreign travel into and out of India," he said.

bmi will look to grow, with competitive fares pegged nearly 20 per cent lower than those before. The airline has published fares of Rs 30,000 for a round-trip ticket on this sector.

However, Sir Michael said the airline did not intend to trigger a fare war; rather it wished to make it profitable for customers on this sector to fly directly to the UK.

The India-UK sector is one of the most profitable routes for British Airways, which made annual profits of £40 million on this sector, he said.

bmi is the UK's second largest full-service airline, and would look to increase frequencies on India services by October, when the winter schedule is drawn up. The airline would look to fly to more destinations in India, he said.

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