Birmingham: Air India Flights, New Routes & Schedule Updates

[CL44]

Cargo space is a bonus, but it's not a deciding factor. Has cargo seen that much of an increase between ATQ or DEL into BHX? If so how come there any any dedicated freighter services because it won't be the reason the aircraft has changed.


Interested to know how you get this info, do you have proof or do people just have to believe what you say

Possibly the reason for Cargo expanding into India may be a result of the trade deal which means reduced (if any) duty against goods moving between the UK and India!

As for a service being viable for an Airline to run this is down to the Revenue Management Team that Airlines have looking at the figures for either a route in general or even down to specific flights. As has been mentioned before if an Airline is not seeing the return they need for a flight to carry on operating then the Airline will decide to either carry on or re-position the aircraft onto a route which can make money. BHX has seen this time and time again from a number of Airlines so it is not a surprise to anyone working within the Industry. If you need any backup to substantiate my comments I have worked in the freight forwarding industry for over 42 years. Thankfully I am going to retire next year!

 

[juliet-fox-9]

Cargo space is a bonus, but it's not a deciding factor. Has cargo seen that much of an increase between ATQ or DEL into BHX? If so how come there any any dedicated freighter services because it won't be the reason the aircraft has changed.

To be honest I have no way of knowing if the extra cargo space is being used to the maximum, but the 77W can uplift 20-25 tonnes of hold cargo per flight, which is equivalent to a daily 737 freighter service.

 

[BLB777]

Possibly the reason for Cargo expanding into India may be a result of the trade deal which means reduced (if any) duty against goods moving between the UK and India!

As for a service being viable for an Airline to run this is down to the Revenue Management Team that Airlines have looking at the figures for either a route in general or even down to specific flights. As has been mentioned before if an Airline is not seeing the return they need for a flight to carry on operating then the Airline will decide to either carry on or re-position the aircraft onto a route which can make money. BHX has seen this time and time again from a number of Airlines so it is not a surprise to anyone working within the Industry. If you need any backup to substantiate my comments I have worked in the freight forwarding industry for over 42 years. Thankfully I am going to retire next year!

Not questioning your knowledge on freight just trying to learn about things im not that familiar with.

Cuts to BHX and LGW will be difficult for the airline to make because these are politically driven routes. It is obvious where the cuts need to come from and where the restructuring needs to happen to give AI any chance of becoming profitable again. In FY26 AI lost $2.8 billion, which is also having an effect on Singapore Airlines as they invest heavily in this airline. These routes would be the first to go but like I say it's politically driven so it's hard for them to do what's needed.

AI with the no over flying of Pakistan and the higher fuel prices, make these routes no matter what the performance is unviable. Especially with a half full B77W. If they can get good cargo loads then great makes the most out of the service but it's not helping the route or keeping it going. The airline looses a staggering amount per passenger on a return fare, not helped by a half empty premium cabin including empty first class which is where airlines gets back most of their money.

 

[Karl C]

Of course it matters, September is the time of year when you expect numbers to be at their highest due to the top up in travellers, for example students coming to Birmingham for the start of the academic year, airlines either put extra frequencies on or upgrade aircraft for this specific time of year. For example Cathay Pacific running an extra Sunday flight at MAN and Hainan increasing to 10 weekly at MAN. If we were seeing an increase in demand the outbound loads would show that, not the opposite.

And no, why does it matter who I am or where I work?

Not interested in Manchester...and the inbound loads are healthy....student or otherwise. And yes....it does matter who you are and where you work 😉

 

[BLB777]

Not interested in Manchester...and the inbound loads are healthy....student or otherwise. And yes....it does matter who you are and where you work 😉

What a weird thing to say

 

[BLB777]

332

Doesnt actually answer the question but okay

 

[IanFarquharson]

Doesnt actually answer the question but okay

Lets leave it there, Air India are fine and not going anywhere !

 

[Karl C]

Well said Ian 👍

 

[A330]

Not questioning your knowledge on freight just trying to learn about things im not that familiar with.

Cuts to BHX and LGW will be difficult for the airline to make because these are politically driven routes. It is obvious where the cuts need to come from and where the restructuring needs to happen to give AI any chance of becoming profitable again. In FY26 AI lost $2.8 billion, which is also having an effect on Singapore Airlines as they invest heavily in this airline. These routes would be the first to go but like I say it's politically driven so it's hard for them to do what's needed.

AI with the no over flying of Pakistan and the higher fuel prices, make these routes no matter what the performance is unviable. Especially with a half full B77W. If they can get good cargo loads then great makes the most out of the service but it's not helping the route or keeping it going. The airline looses a staggering amount per passenger on a return fare, not helped by a half empty premium cabin including empty first class which is where airlines gets back most of their money.

You are of course perfectly entitled to your opinion, however, while reading some of your recent posts it reminded me of certain users on airliners.net! Honestly, I was reading such comments back in 1999....I'm not kidding. The number of users that would post pretending they were a pilot and then exposed in the very next response by an actual captain was always fun to read. 🙂

My point is we all enjoy reading about our interest on different sites but please remember there are very few people with access to yield data to factually say a route is under performing. Those who do have this data to hand will certainly not be sharing this information on forums for sure.

I can sit here and produce graphs on routes, demographics, demand etc and post this to make myself look like an 'analyst'. It may impress some on here who will make note of my username and even possibly start to think I'm an aviation professional! The reality is I am sitting on my backside with nothing more than an internet connection and GDS, almost similar to a travel agent. So, I may have a view on pricing and demand as I can search for this but can I post here and say the route is loss making? No, as I don't have sight of the yield data.

Just remember there are people who will post the same message over and over again and want to us to believe it's the truth and spend over 25 years lecturing us on low yielding routes.

If the BHX route is indeed politically driven then I'm sure Singapore Airlines will have their say so let's see who is correct and if Air India are still here in the next few years...

 

[gulftraveller]

I believe that the age of Air India operating routes for political reasons ended a few years ago. The issue is not so much the profitability of the route as the operating problems of the airline more generally. The past two years have been the perfect storm for Air India.