Air India

[kebabselector]

Good stuff Ray, yes I'm in that picture. Bending over deciding which lens to go for!

A few slightly reworked images (others were upload via my camera / iPhone to Flickr without any adjustments)

I possibly went a bit too far on the blue slider me thinks!

 

[Hassaan]

Just to recap, on what days will Air India operate? We know Thursday's one.

 

[Ray Finkle]

Fantastic pictures, it needed a wash from those fire engines.

Just to recap, on what days will Air India operate? We know Thursday's one.

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, so only two days and you'll see it again

 

[Hassaan]

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, so only two days and you'll see it again

So almost the same days as PIA?

 

[Ray Finkle]

PIA is Tue, Thurs, Sat and Sun.

 

[Hassaan]

So we get PIA, Emirates and Air India all on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

 

[Ray Finkle]

The Birmingham Post has a couple of nice videos of the arrival and departure. It's a shame they are edited as I'd very much like to see them in full. Still worth a quick look though.

http://www.birminghampost.co.uk/news/vi ... -8-5441490

AIC113 just departed Delhi, looks to be the same aircraft as Thursday VT-AND.

 

[Hassaan]

Should be another opportunity to catch PIA, Emirates and Air India at the pier today - particularly because PIA doesn't depart until 21:15.

 

[Hassaan]

Someone mentioned that a 3x weekly BHX-BOM is being looked at, but again as mentioned, its more likely that ATQ-DEL-BHX is to become daily.

 

[Ray Finkle]

From what I hear BHX-BOM is under consideration, however, my money would be on DEL going daily in the next 12-18 months.

 

[Ash]

A snippet from Bham ACC Minutes 30/07/13:

"JL announced that Air India were launching flights to Delhi on Thursday 1st
August. The route will be operated by a Boeing 787 aircraft and will arrive at
1830 and depart from Birmingham at 21:30pm.. The service will operate four
times per week on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. JL has
attended a very positive event in Delhi to launch the service which was
attended by 250 travel agents as well as dignitaries. There was a great deal
of excitement about this service following a lot of effort in attracting Air India
back to Birmingham.
It is hoped this will be a daily service as soon as possible, with an aim to
extending the service to Toronto. Air India also wishes to expand freight
services."

http://www.ukaccs.info/bham/agen040913it7.pdf

YYZ on the cards again? Doesn't seem to fit in with AI's wider strategy but good for BHX if it happens.

 

[Ray Finkle]

Good stuff. From what I hear DEL may well be going daily sooner than expected but it's the first I've heard about Toronto. It's also interesting to see that they want to expand freight services, I think Air India stopped dedicated cargo flights last year so I imagine the only way to expand would be larger aircraft with more belly capacity.

 

[Hassaan]

Good stuff about the potential of it becoming daily, but not sure about the Toronto leg. Am I right in saying it didn't do too well the last time AI operated to there out of BHX?

 

[Ray Finkle]

The flight did very well before but was pulled to protect valuable slots at LHR.

For the reg spotters today's service will be on VT-ANK which is a first visit, the aircraft operated the inaugural DEL-SYD-MEL flight yesterday.

 

[thunderchild]

Anyone have an info as to what the loads have been like so far?

Strange about YYZ; they have the aircraft to do the route direct and if the 787's are filling up BHX-DEL-ATQ then they'd have to put a bigger aircraft on the route for the YYZ leg. Perhaps on the other three days they could run a DEL/BOM-BHX-YYZ route with a 787?

 

[Ray Finkle]

Those were my thoughts, either a larger aircraft on the days it operates through to Toronto, which could tie in with their wish to increase freight, or DEL going daily with the three new days operating DEL-BHX-YYZ. It'll be interesting to see what happens.

 

[Ash]

What was the arrangement previously for the YYZ services? BHX doesn't have a sterile transit facility AFAIK so where were transiting pax held?

 

[Hassaan]

What was the arrangement previously for the YYZ services? BHX doesn't have a sterile transit facility AFAIK so where were transiting pax held?

The departure lounge, I guess. Can't expect they would have left them in the plane for a few hours.

 

[Ray Finkle]

Birmingham and Delhi become sister airports

Posted 07 October 2013 03:30

Following the recent launch of direct flights between Birmingham Airport (UK) and Delhi International Airport (India), the two airports have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to formalise a working relationship and commit to developing links between the two cities even further.

At a ceremony held at the World Routes conference in Las Vegas on October 6, 2013, the MoU was signed by Birmingham Airport’s chief executive officer, Paul Kehoe and Delhi International Airport’s head of airline marketing and route development, Kiran Jain, and witnessed by a delegation of aviation and tourism leaders, including the chairman of Visit Britain, Christopher Rodrigues, who joined the airports in support of the partnership.

The MoU, which sees the two airports becoming ‘Sister Airports’, signifies a formal commitment by both parties to work collaboratively in order to strengthen trade and tourism links between the two cities. Located in the centre of the UK, Birmingham Airport handles more than nine million passengers a year and is the third largest airport outside of London. It has a core catchment of ten million people and some 200,000 Indian people live in the West Midlands region alone; 15 per cent of England’s total.

Speaking at the signing in Las Vegas, Paul Kehoe, said: “This partnership makes perfect sense because of the strong ties already in place between the Midlands and India and to continue the hard work already done to secure the route. Having this formal arrangement will allow us to share information and best practice to enhance links between Birmingham and Delhi and promote tourism and business opportunities at both ends of the route.”

Delhi International Airport sees 36 million passengers and well over half a million ton of cargo pass through it annually and is well placed to become the leading hub of South Asia. “It is only through collaboration between our two airports that we have garnered the Delhi - Birmingham service on the wings of our national carrier, Air India. It is partnerships like the one we are cementing here today that will bring us sustained success.” said Delhi International Airport’s Kiran Jain,

Both airports have expansion programmes underway, including a 400m runway extension at Birmingham to allow aircraft to carry more fuel and fly further, plus a longer term vision to become a multi-runway facility capable of handling 70 million passengers a year. Delhi International Airport has commenced on a master plan review that will further enhance its capacities in preparation for the traffic growth. Air India began four times weekly direct flights between Birmingham Airport and Delhi on August 1, 2013 using a Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

http://www.routesonline.com/news/29/bre ... -airports/

 

[Ray Finkle]

New Direct Flights to India Prove a Huge Success as Midlands' South Asian Community Celebrates Diwali

As the South Asian community in the Midlands recently celebrated Diwali, figures released from Air India and Birmingham Airport illustrate the strong demand for direct flights to the Indian Subcontinent from the region.

After a long campaign to get direct flights, South Asian businesses and families in the Midlands support the new direct services to Delhi and call for the further strengthening of aviation links between the two countries.

Key facts and figures:-

• Air India launched a direct service from Birmingham Airport to Delhi on 1st August 2013

• Since their flights commenced, they have carried 20,500 passengers and their services are already nearly 80% full

• The number of passengers that travelled from Birmingham Airport to India for the period Sep12 to Aug 13 was 129,741 using indirect services, illustrating a strong demand within the Airport’s catchment area

• The service operates four times a week using the new Boeing 787-8 ‘Dreamliner’ aircraft. The 256 seat B787-8 series aircraft has a split cabin, consisting of 18 business class and 238 economy seats

• Latest figures from Birmingham Airport show a 13.5% increase in the number of long haul passengers using the Airport in September, compared to the same month last year


According to the ONS, the West Midlands has the highest BME population outside London. The British-Indian population of the West Midlands forms 3.9% at 218,000 (2011). Residents born in India represent the most numerous non-UK born group in the West Midlands with a population size of nearly 100,000 [2].

At the annual Routes Conference held in Las Vegas in early October, Delhi International Airport and Birmingham Airport signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to formalize a working relationship and commit to further developing links between the two cities.

Jason Wouhra, Director of East End Foods plc and Chairman of the Midlands IoD, said: “The ability to fly direct from the Midlands to India is a game-changer for businesses like mine. The reduction in time saves me money, allows me to work more effectively when I get there and crucially makes it easier for my suppliers and customers overseas.

“It shows that the Midlands is serious about building trade links with the Subcontinent and I hope that this is the first flight of many”.

Ninder Johal, Chair of the Black Country Asian Business Association, said: “Having recently been to India on a trade mission, it was fantastic that we were able to plan for Midlands businesses to fly locally from Birmingham as opposed to making an arduous trip to London.

“For those celebrating the festival of Diwali it is brilliant that both local businesses and local communities are able to use their nearest airport in order to get to India to celebrate for both business and religious reasons.

“I understand and am delighted to hear that the Air India flights to Delhi have been such a brilliant success in terms of numbers travelling via Birmingham. We hope to see more routes to one of the fastest growing economies soon”.

Tan Handa, owner of the Horseshoe Bar & Restaurant, said: “Direct connections to India are important to people like me in the Midlands who travel back and forth a lot to visit friends and family.

“I recently visited Delhi for my grandparents’ anniversary party and it was really convenient to use Birmingham Airport. I dropped my mum to the airport for the flight and due to work commitments I had to fly out a few days later. If I had to make two journeys to Heathrow for our flights I doubt I could have gone. It is inconvenient and adds time, not to mention the big rise in fuel costs.

“Indian families have been crying out for direct flights and I am glad it’s finally happened. It’s hugely valued and I hope this signifies a host of new direct flights from Birmingham Airport to other major destinations too”.

Chairman of Purico companies, Professor Nat Puri DL, said in response to the launch of the Delhi service: “The saving in time travelling to Heathrow is a welcome news, direct flight to Delhi is much welcomed for the business, families, students and growing number of bilateral tourists. The route will give the Midlands direct connectivity with the growing number of Indian businesses keen to trade with the wider Midlands Region.”

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