Kingfisher to fly Mumbai-London from Jan 5

Vijay Mallya-promoted Kingfisher Airlines, which recently got approval to fly on nine international routes, today said it will start direct daily flights from Mumbai to London from January 5, 2009.

"Given the strong linkages between India and the United Kingdom, we believe that there is untapped potential and this new route promises to serve the unmet needs of discerning corporate and leisure fliers to these destinations," Kingfisher Airlines chairman and CEO Vijay Mallya said.

The flight aboard an 'Airbus A330-200' aircraft would take off from Mumbai at 1:50 pm, while it would leave London's Heathrow airport at 8.30 pm (local time there), the company said.

After the Bangalore-London route, where Kingfisher started operations in September this year, this is the second international route to be operated by the airline.

The tickets for the inaugural and subsequent flights to and from London are now available for sale to guests, India's only five-star rated carrier said in a statement.

The government has recently approved Kingfisher's proposal to fly on other international routes like Mumbai-Hong Kong, Mumbai-Singapore, Chennai-Colombo, Bangalore-Colombo, Kolkata-Dhaka, Kolkata-Chittagong, Bangalore-Bangkok and Mumbai-Bangkok.

"The time frame for the launch of these services will be announced in due course," the statement added.