With Kingfisher Airlines introducing Heathrow-Bangalore last week, and Mumbai from the start of the winter season 26 October (see ABTN), the UK-India is certainly heating up. British Airways has now confirmed that it will begin Heathrow-Hyderabad flights on 6 December.
BA says the Indian market is now its second largest long haul after the United States. Besides Hyderabad the airline flies to Bangalore, Chennai (Madras), Kolkata (Calcutta), Delhi and Mumbai (Bombay). It competes on various routes with a number of carriers including Air India, Jet Airways and Virgin Atlantic, besides the new Kingfisher operation. bmi introduced a short lived Mumbai route in 2006, and the airlines of the Gulf offer non-direct competition but only on a price basis.
Speaking on the announcement of the route, Robert Boyle, BA commercial director, said: "Hyderabad has a fast growing economy based on IT, business process outsourcing and biotech industries and we believe that there will be a strong business demand for our flights, which will be the only direct services between the city and the UK."
British Airways will operate Boeing 777 equipment on the route five times per week, with a four-class layout. Flight time is around nine hours.
Hyderabad metropolitan area is the fourth largest in India with a population of nearly ten million. The city is in central India but more towards the eastern seaboard.The new state-of-the-art Rajiv Gandhi International Airport opened in March 2008 in Shamshabad to the southwest. The airport has the longest runway in India. An express flyover is being constructed from Mehdipatnam to Aramgarh, to provide dedicated high speed travel to the airport. Hyderabad is very much a bus city, with the state transport company operating an astonishing 19,000 units. The city has the third largest bus station facility in Asia with 72 platforms.
For more information visit www.ba.com