The Hindu Business Line : Virgin hails UK move for air services talks with India

THE British airlines, Virgin Atlantic Airways (VAA), which is keen to increase flights to India, has welcomed the decision of the British Government to write to the Indian Government asking for scheduling of air services bilateral talks between the two countries.

Addressing a press conference here, the Chief Executive of VAA, Mr Steve Ridgway, said it was willing to operate more flights under a code-share agreement with Air India.

Airline officials expressed confidence that if more flights were allowed into India from Britain, VAA will be allowed to operate them.

"The British Government policy is to encourage competition and in the past few years, we have been allowed to operate to several cities abroad. We have a pretty good chance," the Director of External Affairs and Route Development, Mr Barry Humphreys, said.

On the issue of the airline serving a notice for terminating its agreement with Air India to operate flights to India in 2002, officials said that the notice was sent as part of the airline reviewing operations after the events of September 11, which shook the aviation industry.

The airline entered into a code-share agreement with Air India to start operations to India in July 2000.

Besides, officials indicated that Virgin Holidays, which sells holiday packages, was itching to come to the Indian market.

The airline, which operates three-flights-a-week on the London-Delhi-London sector, is reporting a passenger load factor of about 75-80 per cent.

"Out of London, our flights are coming quite full," airline officials said.

While the airline carried 53,849 passengers on the London-Delhi sector in 2001, it declined to 47,477 in the following year. However, airline officials said this was because VAA had changed the aircraft being used on the sector from a Boeing 747-400 to an Airbus A-340.

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