British air carrier bmi on Tuesday announced launch of its four-times-a-week Mumbai-London service to be converted into a daily service and said it was exploring the idea of introducing services to other Indian cities.
"We have long campaigned to bring service to key long-haul route destinations in India which we believe have been underserved and short of direct capacity. The introduction of our facility will bring greater value and choice for Indian customers," bmi Chairman Sir Michael Bishop told reporters in Mumbai on Tuesday.
Bishop said the four-times-a-week service would be converted into a daily service by October 28.
Passengers can now fly to London's Heathrow airport in bmi's Airbus A330 aircraft on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays.
The fares on bmi flights are:
-
Rs 96,045 for Business Class
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Rs 61,110 for Premium Economy Class.
The airline offers two Economy Class fares:
- Rs 39,040 and Rs 29,560.
Bishop said that with the introduction of bmi's service in the Indian market, there has been a fall in fares which has created tangible benefits for Indian passengers.
bmi, which is largely a domestic and European carrier, will challenge British Airways and Virgin Atlantic in the long-haul Indian market, he said.
The launch comes after the decision of India and the United Kingdom governments to open additional air routes between the two nations.
Bishop said that a lot of revenue generated on the Indo-UK route was given away to foreign carriers as the route was served by third country carriers and stressed that Indian and British carriers should come forward to take benefit of the increased traffic between the two countries.
"Allowing greater direct capacity between India and the UK will benefit both the countries' carriers. Previously more than 53 per cent of the market between the two countries has been forced to travel via connecting airports in the Middle East to the disadvantage of home carriers," Bishop said.
The bmi chief said the airline would also be starting a direct flight from Heathrow to Riyadh in Saudi Arabia by June this year.
Senior official of the airline said that the carrier would offer 7 per cent commission to travel agents for ticket bookings.
