New Delhi: British Airways, which has been operating to India for nearly 100 years, is keen to increase flights to the national capital and Mumbai as it sees “headroom for expansion” as well as a more balanced demand growth post the coronavirus pandemic.
Bullish about the opportunities in India, the airline has also officially opened its new call centre in the country, where it has more than 2,000 employees, including around 1,700 at the call centre.
British Airways Chairman and CEO Sean Doyle on Friday said the carrier is seeing a more balanced growth in India and has increased its weekly flights to 56 compared to the pre-pandemic level.
Earlier, it used to operate 49 weekly flights.
There is a growth in air travel demand in India, and there is “headroom for expansion”, he said, adding that the airline is rebuilding and modernising wherein India is an important part.
Doyle said the airline would like to expand flights to Delhi and Mumbai, which are subject to bilateral air service agreement.
Currently, the carrier operates 56 weekly flights connecting five Indian cities — Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad.
Out of the total, it operates 14 weekly flights to Delhi and 21 weekly flights to Mumbai.
“Mumbai and Delhi are subject to bilateral air service agreement. As demand grows, economy develops, it is very important that air services keep pace with that,” he said.
The existing bilateral flying rights between India and the UK for Delhi and Mumbai is fully utilised. The two countries have a liberal air service agreement.
“Our network to the UK for Indian travellers is very significant… We have the biggest network to connect India with the US to serve 31 cities and also have extensive network in Canada,” Doyle said.
About the Indian market, he said the country is becoming an economic super power and also has ambitions to grow the trade with the UK.
“India and the UK want to double their trade by 2030. We think our services will play a critical part of it… we have been enabling connectivity between the two countries for 99 years and as we want to grow, what that growth will look like we are still evaluating,” he noted.
Mentioning about the growth potential, the British Airways chief said that around 15 years ago, the airline was flying to 20-21 cities in the US and now it is 31.
“There is no reason why India shouldn’t afford us that rate of both network expansion and may be increase frequencies we have in existing markets,” he said.
In the Indian market, Doyle said there is a strong connecting traffic and also mentioned about the growth of Indian diaspora in the US as a factor for rising travel demand.
While noting that partnerships are important, Doyle also emphasised about building its own proposition for India.
The airline also has an interline agreement with full service carrier Vistara.
British Airways has more than 2,000 employees in the country, the airline’s Chief Customer Officer Calum Laming said.
It has a total global workforce of more than 35,000 people.
The airline has officially opened its new call centre CallBA in Gurugram. It has 1,400 staff who provide support to customers from the US and Europe, through to Asia Pacific.
In a release, British Airways said CallBA has doubled in size since 2019.
“British Airways has been flying to India since 1924, making it one of our longest-served and most valued destinations. This investment in our customer care team at CallBA is part of our vision to continually enhance and upgrade our customer service,” Doyle said.
British Airways has also partnered with IndusInd Bank and joint business partner Qatar Airways for a multi-branded airline credit card.
“Indian customers travelling between Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru can enjoy the airline’s newly designed Club Suite (business class) cabin, with direct-aisle access, a suite door for greater privacy and luxurious flat-bed seats in a 1-2-1 configuration.
“Flyers will also soon start to see the new British Airways uniform, as cabin crew, pilots and check-in agents switch over to the airline’s first new uniform in 20 years,” the release said.
The airline operated its first flight to New Delhi in 1924. Globally, it flies to 200 destinations across 74 countries.
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