Bmi, Britain's second-largest full-service airline, plans to launch a daily service between London and Bombay this October that will help take on rivals British Airways and Virgin Atlantic, its chairman said on May 17. Bmi, formerly known as British Midland, launched a four-times-a-week service between Bombay and London's Heathrow on the weekend, and will lobby for additional frequencies when the British and Indian governments ease regulations further, he said. "The Indian market is forecast to grow dynamically in the coming years, and the London-Bombay service is an immensely important step in developing our long-haul route network," Michael Bishop told a news conference on Tuesday.
The airline expects its long-haul services will help it compete on a more equal footing with leader British Airways and Virgin Atlantic.
"There's no question we are fighting to be more competitive with BA and Virgin and our competitive fare structure for the London-Bombay service is a part of that," Bishop said.
Bmi's London-Bombay fares, at 29,560-96,045 rupees ($680-$2,210) are cheaper by 8 percent to 28 percent from those that were prevailing, and its entry has forced British Airways and Virgin to cut their fares, he said.
"We are profitable and we can afford to pass on some benefit to passengers, but we obviously won't go into fares that are damaging to the airline," said Bishop, who expects that the lower fares will encourage more people to fly more frequently.
Bmi plans to launch a non-stop flight to Riyadh later this year and has identified 14 other potential long-haul destinations, including Hong Kong, Johannesburg, Cape Town and some in the United States.
India and Britain recently agreed to more than double flights on existing routes and open up additional routes.
British Airways said last month it would add flights from October, doubling the number of flights from Heathrow to Bombay to two a day, and stepping up flights to Bangalore and Madras.
Demand has outstripped services so far, and other European and Middle-Eastern carriers have cornered a large chunk of the traffic as travellers were forced to take connecting flights.
"Our thrust is to get more people travelling non-stop between UK and India, and to get Indian and UK carriers to carry the bulk of that traffic, as this is a core business," said Bishop, who owns 50 percent plus one share in bmi, while Germany's Lufthansa has nearly 30 percent and Scandinavia's SAS has 20 percent.
In India, bmi will look at other options such as Bangalore and Hyderabad, but inadequate infrastructure may pose a problem.
"Airports need to be upgraded and brought up to standard to handle the additional capacity," said Bishop.
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