Birmingham: Air India Flights, New Routes & Schedule Updates

[Ray Finkle]

Now confirmed on the airport's website, daily from November when they have delivery of their 18th 787 🙂

 

[Brum X]

Great news from Air India today. :good:

 

[Brum X]

Now with the good news from Air India today, i wonder if this will make Emirates announce similar growth plans for BHX, aka Third daily service ?????

 

[Ray Finkle]

Well we know Emirates plan for BHX is 3x daily with a lunchtime A380 but when we'll see anything is anyone's guess, even with the runway constraints at DXB expansion is still taking place. Turkish arrived, went daily not long after, then went 10x weekly but Emirates never budged. Air India arrived and Qatar threatened and again nothing, will AI going daily make much difference to them? I wonder how Turkmenistan will react, if at all. They took a bit of a hit when Air India first arrived but it didn't take long for them to recover and start seeing some loads of over 90%.

Hopefully Air India will get a confirmed date for the aircraft delivery soon and put the daily flights on sale. The 16th Dreamliner, VT-ANQ, entered service on August the 1st, number 17, VT-ANR, hasn't flown yet and number 18, VT-ANS, is still being assembled. I read an interesting article recently saying all of their 787 routes are profitable except the SYD/MEL triangle route, that's due to be reworked soon with both SYD and MEL becoming a single destination but at a reduced frequency. Australia seems to be a popular connection so hopefully it'll mean better connections from BHX.

 

[thunderchild]

Great news regarding Air India. Out of interest when was the last time BHX had three daily long haul flights? I'm guessing 2002 with CO, AA and EK?

 

[Brum X]

It will be x 4 daily long haul with EK double daily :good:

 

[thunderchild]

Indeed your correct; what I meant though was airline/destination rather than frequency.

 

[Ray Finkle]

Birmingham Makes Passage to India to Tempt Tourists


Birmingham is being showcased to Indian travel agents as a leading global visitor destination, as tourist numbers from the country increase.

Visit Birmingham, the city’s official leisure tourism body, is currently running a six month training programme with Kuoni Academy for travel agents in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Amritsar. The sessions will raise awareness of Birmingham’s attractions; the city’s central location as a gateway to the rest of the UK; and its direct air links to Asia, following Air India’s commitment to increase its Birmingham-Delhi-Amritsar operation to a daily service from November.

The initiative builds on the rising number of visits to Birmingham from India – with a 71 per cent increase last year, from 8,261 (2012) to 14,131 (2013). The city attracts more visitors from India than any other destination in England outside of London, and is ranked second in terms of total numbers of visitors from India in the last four years.

The aim of the programme, which runs until September, is to train between 200 and 300 travel agents, some of whom already promote the destination, as well as new agents. The workshops will provide a grounding in Greater Birmingham’s tourism offer – including the region’s attractions, culture, heritage, retail and food – as well as the new developments set to transform Birmingham in 2015. These include the £600million redevelopment of New Street station and the new Grand Central shopping complex, anchored by the 250,000 sq ft John Lewis department store, one of the largest outside London.

Visit Birmingham’s Director of Marketing Services, Emma Gray, travelled to India this summer to launch the programme with a delegation that also included representatives from Birmingham Airport and The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.

Emma commented:

“Approximately 80 per cent of the Indian market book through a travel intermediary, so it made sense to invest time in launching our first training workshops in India to showcase to agents what our region has to offer.

“Birmingham’s profile is growing considerably on the international stage with a significant increase in visitor numbers and influential global publications such as The Times of India and China Daily highlighting the city’s leisure offer. It is clear that we are becoming an attractive holiday and business destination to people in India.

“Tourism plays a huge part in Birmingham’s economic success – with a £5.1billion boost in 2012. Initial sessions have been well received, so we look forward to welcoming a new wave of Indian visitors to the city as a result of this training programme and further campaigns in the Asian market next year.”

Mandy Haque, Sales & Travel Trade Relationship Manager at Birmingham Airport, said:

“Since Air India commenced direct Birmingham-Delhi-Amritsar flights last year, more than 80,000 passengers have used the four times weekly service and this week the carrier has announced that it is committed to launching daily services from November. This will deliver an extra 1,500 seats on the route and give more choice, flexibility and opportunity for Indian tourists to fly into Birmingham and explore the many jewels that this region has to offer.

“Educating travel agents is vital for airports as they can influence a customer’s decision on where they fly from so partnering with Visit Birmingham on this programme and developing new relationships in India was a great opportunity for Birmingham Airport.”

Debbie Beardall, Trade & Education Development Manager at The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, added:

“We are delighted to be working in partnership with Birmingham Airport and Visit Birmingham to boost awareness amongst Indian travel agents about the wealth of attractions, culture, heritage and beautiful countryside all within a stone’s throw of Birmingham.

“Shakespeare is extremely popular in Asia and the Shakespeare Family Homes in Stratford-upon-Avon, just 30 minutes from Birmingham, are already a magnet for visitors from India.

“The travel workshops have given us an opportunity to showcase just how much we have to offer for the multi-generation groups who visit from India, and we look forward to welcoming even more, once daily flights come into operation.”

http://www.birminghamairport.co.uk/meta ... rists.aspx

 

[Ray Finkle]

Here is a video of the celebrations of Air India's one year anniversary. It's nearly two hours long so beware.

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctvpCXgqtGg[/video]

 

[Ray Finkle]

From the consultative committee agenda, it appears they're going more after the inbound market from India with a joint campaign from the airport, Visit [strike]London[/strike] Britain and Marketing Birmingham planned to coincide with them going daily.

A dinner was held for 160
guests to celebrate Air India’s
first anniversary and the news
that the airline will fly daily from
November. Coverage has been
secured across a large number
of UK and Asian titles. A joint
Visit Britain, Marketing
Birmingham and Airport
campaign is planned to start in
November to support the launch
of daily flights by promoting
inbound travel to the UK.

 

[Brum X]

BHX not making a profit.

However, it is not one of Air India's 10 most loss making routes. All routes to LHR lose money which i though was shocking to say the least. If thhey cant make money out of LHR, maybe they should transfer all UK services to BHX ???????

Interesting article.

http://www.bangaloreaviation.com/2014/0 ... ights.html

 

[CL44]

If memory serves me right there were rumours of a scissor type service (a la Jet in BRU) for either BHX / DUB with Ai putting in a wave of flights from different destinations and going out onwards to different points on the network. The big problem is this:- Money.

Are AI making money on their flights (not according to this report). The costs for infrastructure alone would be prohibitive and while BHX would be able to accomodate the flights (and I dare say the BHX management would be more than happy to do so) over slot-restricted LHR, why would AI throw good money after bad? AI going daily from BHX is a good step to take and I wish them well with this, but, unless they start making money on these routes how much longer will the Government of India be able to bail them out.

 

[Ray Finkle]

I think the potential scissor hub was to cover flights to North America but at the moment (as far as I'm aware) AI can't add anymore US cities or amend what they have. Joining the Star Alliance probably means they can now offer it all with connections through the main European hubs.

Air India have a horrendous cost base but it never mattered as long as the government kept bailing them out, you only have to look at some of the worst offenders being flights from Ahmedabad, which just happens to be where the Indian PM is from, in any other airline these would have been chopped. As far as I know the US flights have also been loss making for many years but yet they continue.

For the first year of ops I think BHX did well, it had a higher than average load factor and, although it didn't make a profit, it did add 80 crore rupees to the AI network, which I make to be around £10-11 million. BHX going daily shows it did well and I'd say the lack of profit (not just for BHX) is more likely down to AI's inability to control costs rather than the route itself.

 

[Ray Finkle]

Air India are to codeshare with Air Canada from October which pretty much rules out the BHX service carrying on to YYZ, not a bad thing as far as I'm concerned.

Air Canada and Air India plans to commence codeshare partnership starting 02OCT14, covering service between Europe and India, between Asia and India, as well as Domestic India routes. Planned codeshare routes and schedules appeared in the week of 22SEP14′s OAG Schedules Analyser update under Air Canada’s “AC” code.

http://airlineroute.net/2014/09/22/acai ... are-oct14/

 

[Ray Finkle]

EU to review air safety in India in November


European Union will review air safety in India in the light of US Federal Aviation Administration down grading India in February. It has sought details of action taken by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation since February before the review in November.

FAA downgraded India’s safety ranking from category-II from -I after an audit revealed deficiencies in regulatory oversight. FAA’s decision can have ramifications and now regulators in Europe are stepping up the heat. Any adverse findings could result into Europe imposing operational restrictions or bans on Indian carriers.

European Commission spokesperson Dale Kidd said EU Air Safety Committee in its March meeting decided to invite the Indian authorities for a meeting in Brussels to discuss aviation safety in India, and to brief about actions being undertaken by them. "The European Commission and the EU Air Safety Committee will then – following the upcoming meeting in November – assess the situation and decide on the best course of action under the various options in the EU Air Safety List regulation,'' he added. At present Air India flies to London, Birmingham, Paris, Frankfurt, Milan and Rome. Jet Airways flies to London, Brussels and Paris.

http://www.business-standard.com/articl ... 735_1.html

 

[Brum X]

Air India Long Haul (Poor Performance)

Interesting article and BHX is mentioned a few times.

http://www.bangaloreaviation.com/2014/0 ... costs.html

 

[Ray Finkle]

Fuel costs in India are already bordering on the lunatic, but Air India seems to have non-fuel costs higher than most western carriers.

Air India certainly has revenue challenges, but its number one challenge for international operations is expenses. Operating in India, with lower salary standards than the US or western Europe, Air India should have a massive cost advantage on overhead, but its bloated and overpaid workforce generates a cost problem.

Just about sums it all up really, the way they operate is ridiculous but who cares if the government are financing it.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Just about sums it all up really, the way they operate is ridiculous but who cares if the government are financing it.

Do you mean the Indian government or the UK government, Ray?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-20265583

 

[Ray Finkle]

Interesting article and having a quick read through the comments it definitely seems to have divided opinion. I think it's been mentioned before that their three worst performing routes, which between them also lost a considerable chunk of the money, are from Ahmedabad, which just happens to be where the Indian PM is from 🙄

In other news AI's 17th Dream)liner VT-ANR has left the U.S. today to arrive in Delhi tomorrow morning. It has the standard AI paint job so still waiting for a 787 with the Star Alliance livery.

 

[Brum X]

With the arrival of the 17th 787, hopefully the BHX daily operation will be officially lauched soon.