Air India

[thunderchild]

Yep! There must be some logic somewhere.

 

[Ray Finkle]

Marketing Birmingham launches travel agents training programme in India


The focus will be on promoting Birmingham as the gateway city to the UK


Marketing Birmingham, the regional tourism promotion board of the second most populous city of the UK in the West Midlands Built Up Area, has from today commenced a travel agents training programme in India, in four key cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Amritsar. The training programme will be conducted by Kuoni Academy at its centres in the four cities. India is the first market where Birmingham is launching the programme.

Emma Gray, Director of Marketing Services, Marketing Birmingham, said that the aim of the programme is to train 200-300 travel agents, comprising those who are already promoting the destination as well as new agents. “This is the first market where we are launching this programme. We understand that India is the best market for this, as 80 per cent of the outbound packages are sold through the travel trade in India,” she said. The programme will be completed by September 2014, after which the performance of the travel agents will be evaluated, Gray said.

About the choice of cities for the training programme, Gray said that the cities have been chosen considering their potential to drive numbers and offer direct connectivity.

Speaking about the trends in the Indian market, Gray said that there was “significant growth” in Indian arrivals in the last year, which made Marketing Birmingham look at India as a priority market. “The international visits to Birmingham have registered a 32 per cent growth in 2013 over 2012, which is well above the national average. Indian numbers have more than doubled during the 12-month period,” she informed.

While VFRs (Visiting Friends and Relatives) continue to be the major contributor from India, Gray said that the training programme is intended to “encourage new people” to use Birmingham as the gateway city to the UK.

Birmingham Airport, Gray said, has changed a lot and it is easy to complete formalities. The transit time required at the Airport is less as compared to other airports.

Talking about the USP of Birmingham as a destination, Gray said that it was the “location” of Birmingham that makes it easier for visitors to explore more cities and places of attraction. The destination is 50 per cent less expensive in terms of accommodation, food, etc., as compared to London, Gray said.

Birmingham will be adding a lot of attractions by next year. Resorts World will be foraying into Europe next year with their first entertainment facility in Birmingham. Coming up near the airport, it will have the largest casino, shopping centre and retail space in Europe, she added.

Mailbox, the premium shopping centre at the city centre Birmingham, is revamping their facility and will be ready next year. The new train station will also add to the attractions of the city next year, Gray added.

Air India Ltd. is operating direct flights from Delhi and Amritsar to Birmingham. Mumbai and Bengaluru, she said, have an affluent traveller market base. Gray also expressed Marketing Birmingham’s intention to undertake direct customer campaigns from next year in the Indian market. However, these campaigns will be “more digital”, she added.

Besides India, China and USA are the two markets that Marketing Birmingham is planning to focus on for tourism growth

http://www.travelbizmonitor.com/marketi ... ndia-24450

 

[Hassaan]

I look forward to see what's coming next for AI at BHX. They've lasted almost a year with some strong loads/yields. I think we can possibly rule out the chances of a transit service through BHX to the US/Canada.

 

[User0001]

Canada is possible, but as I understand Air India are not allowed any more new routes to the USA via any point at this time due to their security category status.

 

[Ray Finkle]

I think the USA and possibly Canada will now be covered by their STAR Alliance partners with one connection at the likes of FRA, CDG or LHR.

In a couple of weeks the route will be 12 months old and I think we can say the first year has been a very successful one with some months seeing over three times the amount of pax carried in 2005 when the route was split with YYZ on the 772. Amritsar will always have healthy loads ex BHX but what has surprised me this time round is the amount of pax travelling to, or connecting at, DEL, with the biggest surprise of all probably being the amount of traffic heading through Delhi to SYD/MEL, I also hear cargo loads are very healthy (maybe CL44 has further info???) which can only be good news. In my line of work I speak to members of the Indian expat community more or less daily and there still seems to many who don't realise AI are back at BHX, only yesterday someone told me he is soon to be flying to Delhi from BHX with LH, 'I used to be able to go direct with Air India' he said, he was amazed when I told him they are back, so hopefully there is still word to be spread which will further increase loads.


As for the future, well I'm hoping we don't end up sharing the route with YYZ (if BHX want more capacity to Canada then they should do a deal with Air Transat), I think BHX has more than shown it can hold it's own as a stand alone destination and the 787 seems the perfect fit. Hopefully we'll hear about them going daily in the near future

 

[Ray Finkle]

A different departure routing for AIC114 this evening. It departed RWY33 and instead of the usual bank to the right and out over Norfolk it made a sharp left turn to the west looping all the way round then heading east over Coventry and Rugby before turning north west up to Norfolk then turning east again over Norwich and out to Holland. I've never seen an east bound aircraft turn west and loop round before but it sure was nice seeing a low flying 787 directly over my back garden

 

[User0001]

There often seems to be no rhyme or reason to routings sometimes.

I often watch flightradar in my spare time, just to see if anything unusual is knocking about.

Earlier this week, I saw a widebody jet 'out of place' on the map, in that it was over mid-Wales, pointing south west, something that you never see. Thinking I was witnessing a divert about to take place (ei an aircraft turning back), I was surprised to see it was the US735 MAN-PHL flight and it was absolutely fine.

Instead of going over the North Wales coast, out to DUB and across, it seemed to go southwards over wales, then break from landfall over the St. Davids area. Ive never seen any MAN trans-Atlantic flight take that route before.

 

[CL44]

Well with regards to cargo loads I cannot comment on the out bound loads but the loads inbound seem to be quite healthy. Without breaking confidences with Clients the inbound movements are quite proud with connecting traffic (not just Indian goods).

I personaly have not used the service out bound as of yet (most of our Clients are happier to use the EK flights via DXB). Obviously the aircraft type being used is very cargo friendly (even with full loads) but please do not forget the available space shown on the load charts is shown with "perfect" cargo being used (eg each pallet loaded to it's full capacity) which very rarely happens. I have know Airline pallets being shipped with 2000 kgs on board where the maximum capacity for the pallet may be as much as 5000 kgs. It all depends on the volume of the goods being shipped. When you see a chart showing for example a 777-300 being able to take 23000 kgs on board it is based on every pallet being loaded with the correct size of boxes which all fit together without any space being left available. This happens once in a while but more often than not the goods being shipped are of odd sizes which cannot be loaded in conjunction with other goods being moved. Sorry for using the incorrect aircraft but I do not have a load chart for a 787 as yet (something which I hope to correct on Wednesday when I visit Farnborough). Please also bear in mind that most Airlines will only allow one (or possibly two) Heavy pallets per flight due to weight / balance issues. These would normally be loaded over the wing box (this being the strongest part of the Airframe). Hope this helps.

 

[Ray Finkle]

Thanks a lot for the info, very interesting stuff. It sounds very positive for AI, especially the fact that it's not just freight originating in India but also connecting stuff.

Much appreciated :good:

 

[Brummiegem]

Thanks,a very interesting post.
If you can't answer then fine,but out of a matter of interest do you know if car parts are put on outbound flights from JLR,or on inbound for that matter?
Maybe slightly off topic but I was wondering if there was much demand for cargo space from the motor industry in the Midlands area??

 

[CL44]

I will be honest with you, I do not know about the movement of car parts on the AI flight. There may well be but I do not have access to the manifest which would show what commodities are being moved. This is (you can imagine) quite sensitive material. Most (if not all) of the motor industry operate on JIT (just in time) whereby stocks are held for the next 24-48 hours only with re-supply coming in when required instead of holding a warehouse full of stock ready to be used. It works out cheaper to fly a charter in with urgent parts than having a warehouse (and staff to run it) full of parts. This affects all Airlines (not just AI) dependant on what global contracts are in place. The big logistics carriers (DHL/UPS/FX etc) specialise in this sort of move with protected space on certain Airlines for selected flights. This industry really is enough to give you grey hair when you think about it. I have been involved with the forwarding side for over 30 years now and what hair i do have left has been grey for at least the last 10 years!

 

[Brummiegem]

CL44,thanks for that.I have trying to determine whether or not a pure cargo flight,catering for our motor industry would be viable.As you say getting hold of sensitive information is difficult,but with the industry seemingly doing so well I would have thought we may have seen more flights from BHX,even if they are 1 off charters.
Perhaps this is benefiting established ops from EMA/STN using UPS,DHL or FedEx,as you suggest. :good:

 

[Ray Finkle]

It works out cheaper to fly a charter in with urgent parts than having a warehouse (and staff to run it) full of parts.

Are these the type of flights we see being operated from Eastern Europe with the Antonov's? I think DHL are the logistical provider for JLR so I'd imagine a lot of their stuff goes through EMA?

 

[Ray Finkle]

:shok:

Air India flight was 90 seconds away when missile struck Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17

An Air India Dreamliner flight going from Delhi to Birmingham was in fact less than 25km away from the Malaysian aircraft, a distance covered by a Dreamliner or Boeing 777 in about 90 seconds, when the latter was hit. Because of this closeness, the Dnipropetrovsk (local Ukrainian) air traffic controller asked the AI pilots to try and establish contact with pilots of the Malaysian aircraft who had stopped responding to its calls.

Minutes before the crash caused by a missile strike, the AI pilots had also heard the controller give the Malaysian aircraft MH17 what is called "a direct routing". This permits an aircraft to fly straight, instead of tracking the regular route which is generally a zig-zag track that goes from one ground-based navigation aid or way point to another. "Direct routing saves fuel and time and is preferred by pilots. In this case, it proved fatal," said an airline source.

"The AI Dreamliner was less than 25km away from the Malaysian aircraft when the latter was hit by a missile. When the pilots learnt the cause of the crash later, they were stunned. It's like the person standing next to you has been hit by a sniper bullet," said the source.

As instructed by the controller, the AI pilots tried to contact the Boeing 777 after its transponder display went off the radar. The message they sent was: "Malaysian 17, this is Air India 113. How do you read?" There was, of course, no response.

The Ukrainian airspace is divided into five flight information regions: Kiev, Lviv, Dnipropetrovsk, Odessa and Simferopol. MH17 was in the Dnipropetrovsk airspace flying an east-bound track on 33,000feet and the AI Delhi-Birmingham flight was on a west-bound route and had entered Ukraine after crossing Russia when the AI pilots heard the Dnipropetrovsk controller give the Malaysian aircraft a direct routing.

Full article: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/indi ... 702536.cms

 

[Hassaan]

I think they'll be changing their route from now on...

 

[Ray Finkle]

Tonight's AIC113 took a more southerly routing passing over Iran, Turkey and across the Black Sea to Romania.

 

[Ray Finkle]

....He was talking to London-based newspaper Asian Lite during the celebrations to mark the first anniversary of Air India re-launching flights to Birmingham.....

.....”Air India nearly achieved 100 percent efficiency on punctuality in the Birmingham sector. We are expecting the delivery of two more by 2014 November and that will make us more efficient in other sectors.

http://www.india.com/business/air-india ... et-109420/

 

[Ray Finkle]

Air India going daily 'soon'

AsiansUK Magazine @AsiansUK · Aug 1
Commercial Director #PankajSrivastava of #Airaindia - coming soon "DailyFlights" 4rm @bhx_official @fly_air_india

AsiansUK Magazine @AsiansUK · Aug 1
Mr. Paul Kehoe #ChiefExecutive @bhx_official #GreaterThings to come by #Airaindia #SuperbAirline #SuperbTeam

 

[Brum X]

I really hope Air India go daily soon, they really look as if they have turned themselves around and being in Star Alliance, even better.

 

[Hassaan]

From @TheHUBRoutes:

Air India has committed to increase its flights between @bhx_official, @Delhi_Airport & Amritsar from 4x weekly to daily from November 2014.

So looks like it will be going daily later this year (although not confirmed by the airport yet, it looks believable). :yahoo: