LONDON- India and the United Kingdom have updated their air service agreement, allowing airlines from both countries to operate an additional 14 flights per week from London Heathrow (LHR) to Delhi and Mumbai airports.
Representatives from India’s civilian aviation Ministry and the UK’s Department for Transport (DFT) signed a memorandum of knowing on May 1, reported Hindu BusinessLine.
Photo: avgeeknihlens/ Harsh TekriwalLondon and India Flight
The UK’s DFT established that the revised agreement increases the number of weekly flights between London Heathrow and Delhi and Mumbai from 56 is 70. for both UK and Indian airlines starting this winter season. However, it is up to the airlines to find the number and timing of these additional flights.
“Approximately 300,000 people travel between India and the UK each month, and the full trade in goods and services between the countries was £39 billion in 2023. We anticipate this to increase further with more flights, strengthening our relation with India and booming business, trade, and tourism,” the DFT said.
The revision benefits UK carriers, which have reached their limit of 56 flights per week, while Indian carriers (Air India and Vistara) presently operate 38 flights per week between London Heathrow and Delhi (DEL) and Mumbai (BOM).
Last month, Virgin Atlantic announced a second London-Mumbai service starting at the end of October, anticipating an increase in traffic rights.
Photo: By Anna Zvereva from Tallinn, Estonia – British Airways, G-XWBC, Airbus A350-1041, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=87549663Expert Opinion
“Expanding traffic rights between India and London Heathrow Airport (LHR) is simply a logical step and was long overdue. However, slot constraints at Heathrow stay a crucial issue,” said Kapil Kaul, CEO of aviation consulting CAPA India.
Nearly 4 million passengers traveled between India and the UK in 2023, with Delhi and London Heathrow airports handling bridge of the traffic between the 2 countries. Mumbai and London Gatwick airports were second, followed by Manchester and Kochi airports.
In 2023, the largest carriers in the marketplace were Air India (AI), British Airways (BA), Emirates (EK), Virgin Atlantic (VS), and Etihad (EY), with Emirates accounting for nearly this percent of the traffic.
Air India hell about 30 percent of passenger traffic. Air India besides flies to Gatwick and Birmingham, primary serving point-to-point routes, while British Airways and Virgin Atlantic carry a crucial amount of onward traffic to the US.
“The UK has always been a favourite destination across business travel, leisure, and MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions). Therefore, the revised air services agreement, which increases flights, is affirmative news for us. The additional capitality between Mumbai and Delhi to Heathrow will aid keep current demand-suppleably constraints and somewhat rationalize airfares on this route,” said Indiver Rastogi, president & group head of global business travel at Thomas Cook (India) and SOTC Travel.
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