Virgin Atlantic hoping to increase services to India

Virgin Atlantic announced today that it plans to operate at least a daily service between London and both Delhi and Mumbai. This follows the successful conclusion today of bilateral talks between the British and Indian governments to add to the current air services agreement between the two countries. The talks have resulted in an agreement for seven additional services between the UK and India for the carriers of each country from winter 2004, an additional seven services from summer 2005 and a further seven services from winter 2005. Virgin Atlantic currently flies between London and Delhi three times a week.

Commenting on the talks Sir Richard Branson said:

“Virgin Atlantic is delighted at the results of the air services talks – we have always dreamt of operating more frequent services to Delhi and to launch new services to Mumbai and this agreement will enable us to turn this into a reality by flying, in due course, a daily service to both Delhi and Mumbai followed by services to other cities in India.

“As BA already operates 19 services to and from India (all of the UK’s current allocation) we would expect that Virgin Atlantic would be awarded the rights to operate the majority of these new services.

“The agreement is great news for consumers. More frequencies will mean more competitive fares on the Heathrow - Delhi route and increased competition and service on the Mumbai route.

“The demand for more flights is clear and for a long time India has needed the benefits that additional air services bring. Half of the people flying from London to Delhi and Mumbai each year are forced to do so via third countries. This can extend their journey times by up to five hours.

“India has well-established business links with Britain. It is an increasingly popular destination for British tourists and the family ties which bind our two countries together are as strong as ever.”

Virgin Atlantic currently flies three times a week between London Heathrow and Delhi through a codeshare agreement with Air India which will come to a natural end as Air India uses the new agreement to increase its own frequencies and Virgin operates services in its own right.

The current air services agreement allows airlines from each country to fly 19 services per week between the UK and India. British Airways currently operates all of the UK’s allocation. Air India currently uses 11 of the frequencies allocated to India.

If there is over demand from British airlines to operate these new services the Civil Aviation Authority will hold a scarce bilateral hearing in order to decide the allocation. As British Airways already operate all of the UK’s allocation of flights Virgin Atlantic said it is confident that  the CAA will wish to encourage competition by awarding Virgin Atlantic the majority of these new services.

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