News: BMI announce start date for flights to Mumbai
Flights > News > # 146 (10/03/2005)
Bmi have now confirmed that they will launch four times weekly flights from London Heathrow to Bombay (Mumbai).
This will also be followed shortly afterwards with the launch of a three times weekly service from London Heathrow to Riyadh.
The introduction of these new bmi destinations will be the first time that the whole range of the airline's award winning service benefits and highly competitive fares will be available on long haul flights from London Heathrow.
The BMI flights to Bombay (Mumbai) will operate on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, with return flights to London Heathrow on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.
To support the development of the London Heathrow operation, the airline is to introduce a fourth aircraft into its long haul fleet.
Commenting on the new developments, bmi chief executive officer, Nigel Turner said:
" We are of course delighted to be confirming the launch date of the first ever bmi long haul flights from London Heathrow, as well as the addition of another key destination to be served shortly afterwards. This is a great opportunity for London travellers to experience, for the first time on long haul flights, the whole range of service benefits and competitive fares that bmi has built its reputation on. Our award winning three-class cabin will provide London travellers to Mumbai and Riyadh with a range of products to suit their needs.
"We remain determined to press our case for greater frequencies and the chance to serve more destinations in India as soon as the opportunity is given. We are hopeful that the next round of bilateral talks in April 2005 will lead to further frequencies being available in the near future. In the meantime bmi will be bringing much needed, genuine and vigorous competition into the London market.
"bmi will have launched flights to six new long haul destinations in less than nine months. To support our increasing presence in this market, we will be adding an additional long haul aircraft into our fleet. This will create more jobs within bmi as well as having a beneficial impact on our suppliers of goods and services. This is excellent news for the local economies around the airports we serve as well as UK plc.
"The support and success we have had for our six USA and Caribbean flights from Manchester has provided us with the confidence to invest further in the development of our long haul network."
The additional long haul aircraft, a damp-leased Boeing 757 from Icelandair, will be based at Manchester, and will operate flights to Washington, DC. This will enable one of bmi's Manchester Airbus A330 aircraft to be based at London Heathrow to commence the new flights to Mumbai and Riyadh.
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Comment:
There is no doubt that passengers will look forward to the increase choice they now have on flights to India, a market which has long been overdue a shake up. Following on from last year's bilateral talks, passengers also now have the choice of flights
