British Airways Tweaking Its Delhi & Mumbai Network

The Flag Carrier of the United Kingdom, British Airways has augmented its Indian network. The airline will increase flights to Delhi Airport, while temporarily reducing services to Mumbai. This augmentation comes just days after both countries renewed their bilateral air service agreements, allowing airlines from both sides to enhance the number of flights.

British Airways Changing Delhi & Mumbai Network

British Airways is currently operating daily flights between London Heathrow (LHR) and Delhi Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL). From June 1, it will increase its offering to two daily flights. Both these services will be operated by Boeing 787-8 and 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft.

Here is a quick look at the timings of 2nd daily Delhi flight:

British Airways has a fleet of 12 B788s and 18 B789s. The -8s are configured with 35 Business, 25 Premium Economy, and 154 Economy Class seats. The 787-9 Dreamliner are premium heavy aircraft, fitted with 8 First, 42 Business, 39 Premium Economy, and 127 Economy Class seats.

From the same day, it will reduce flights to Mumbai. Currently, it is connecting Heathrow to Mumbai with three daily flights. From June 1, flights will be reduced to twice daily. BA198/199 daily service will be dropped. However, this will be a temporary reduction. BA will reinstate the third daily flight from June 21. This cancellation will remain only for 20 days.

This means that after June 21, BA will be operating 2X daily to Delhi and 3X to Mumbai. Add this to Virgin Atlantic’s daily Mumbai and 2X daily Delhi service, airlines from the United Kingdom will be operating 56X weekly to Delhi & Mumbai, fulfilling their old quota.

Renewal of Bilateral Agreement

In early May, the Governments of both India and the United Kingdom renewed their bilateral air service agreement. Under the new agreement, airlines from both sides are allowed to operate 70 one-way weekly flights. This means that UK-based carriers even now can add 14 more weekly flights.

Virgin Atlantic has already committed to increasing Mumbai services to twice daily from the coming Winter Schedule. With this, the Richard Branson-backed airline will be offering more than 1 million seats between India and the UK.

Even after this, UK carriers will have 7 additional weekly rights, which they can add to Delhi or Mumbai. On the other hand, airlines from India are yet to fulfill their previous bilateral quota.

Slot Restrictions Holding Indian Carriers

Air India and Vistara are the only Indian airlines operating from Delhi/Mumbai to London Heathrow. In the summer schedule, Vistara was forced to cancel its Mumbai to London service after the airline was unable to find slots at Heathrow.

Virgin and BA are using London Heathrow Airport as their hub. That’s why they can easily get slots. But at the same time, Indian airlines have difficulty getting slots at the congested airport.

Jointly, Indian carriers are operating 38 flights per week from Delhi & Mumbai to Heathrow. They have flying rights to increase services by 32 more weekly flights, but no slots. The condition of Indian carriers is similar to Thor with Hammer, but no lightning.

For operations between London & other Indian cities, Air India utilizes the Gatwick Airport. Apart from Delhi & Mumbai, British Airways also operates to Chennai, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad. Virgin Atlantic launched the Bengaluru service in April month.

Conclusion: British Airways Tweaking Delhi & Mumbai Flights

Soon after receiving the go-ahead to add more flights, British Airways added a second daily flight connecting London Heathrow to Delhi. It will reduce the frequency between Heathrow & Mumbai temporarily to 2X daily. However, this will be a temporary reduction as flights will be back on schedule on June 21.

What do you think about this network augmentation from British Airways? Discuss in the comment section.