The Hindu Business Line : bmi bullish: It's daily service between Mumbai and London from April 21

BMI, the British carrier which commenced services between London and Mumbai last May, will step up its frequency to a daily service from April 21 next year. It now operates four flights a week on this sector.

Ms Sheela Mehra, Manager, Sales and Marketing, bmi, said the daily service would enable the airline to target more market segments including students, tourists and shipping personnel besides the corporate traveller.

The flight would depart Mumbai at 2-35 a.m. to reach London at 7-40 a.m. (local times), allowing passengers to connect to bmi's services within the UK and onward to Europe.

On the return journey, the flight would depart London at 11-10 a.m. to arrive Mumbai at 00-35 a.m. (local times).

The step-up in frequencies would coincide with the peak period for outbound traffic in April and May.

Currently, passenger loads on its inbound service were near capacity and the outbound service was expected to top off in January, she said.

The airline was keen on flying to more cities in India though the destinations were yet to be finalised.

bmi recently commenced services to Riyadh and would soon fly to Jeddah. The airline also offers trans-Atlantic connections to the US and the Carribbean from its hub in Manchester.

With the growing competition on the India-UK sector, the challenge for the airline is to convert passengers from other airlines to frequent fliers on bmi, she said. In an effort to woo traffic from other carriers, business class passengers on bmi can use of the services of a chef on-board the flight.