Air India to launch daily service from Birmingham
Flights from the West Midlands to India have proved such a success that they will become a daily service at Birmingham Airport from later this year, it has been revealed.
Air India began running flights four times a week a year ago, using a Boeing Dreamliner 787 jet, and since then has carried more than 80,000 passengers between Birmingham, Delhi and Amritsar.
Now it has announced the service will become daily from November, once it takes deliver of its latest 256-seater Dreamliner.
The announcement came at a celebratory dinner to mark Air India's first anniversary of operating from Birmingham Airport .
The airline's commercial director, Pankaj Srivastava, who flew over from India for the celebration, said: "Since starting our four times weekly Dreamliner programme from Birmingham Airport last year, we have handled more than eighty thousand passengers on board 210 flights, serving business passengers, tourists and people visiting friends and relatives.
"Air India is committed to develop and grow in this market and once we have taken the delivery of our 18th Dreamliner aircraft in November, we hope to launch the daily operation from Birmingham Airport.
"This will provide an extra 1,500 seats a week and give passengers greater choice, flexibility and opportunity to travel from the convenience of Birmingham Airport to Amritsar and Delhi, and onwards on Air India's extensive global network."
Air India's current schedule operates from Birmingham each Saturday, Monday, Tuesday and Thursday on its B787 Dreamliner aircraft.
Paul Kehoe, Birmingham Airport's chief executive, said: "We are extremely thankful to Air India for recognising the demand from travellers needing the flexibility of daily services from Birmingham.
"The West Midlands receives more foreign direct investment from India than any other region outside of London and Birmingham's VFR (visits to friends and relatives) market grew by 71 per cent in 2013, now attracting more visitors from India than any English city other than London.
"It's therefore not surprising that the route has been such a success in its first year and I am certain that a daily service would make the Birmingham route even more appealing to Midlands' travellers."
