British Airways bullish on Kolkata - London traffic

India-specific advertising campaign expected to get more customers

As foreign carriers like Malaysia Airlines close shop in Kolkata, British Airways plans to woo passengers by providing three weekly flights to Heathrow London from Kolkata and a soon to be introduced online boarding pass facility. This was announced at a press meet by company delegates.

The airline has plans of operating five flights a week from Chennai and six flights a week from Bangalore from May 4, 2006. Double-daily flights would be introduced on the Delhi-London route from April 8, 2006, said Charles Carneiro, marketing manager, South Asia. The total number of flights operating from five cities in India would also be increased to 42 from April this year.

Joseph Homem, manager, east India and Burma, said that flights from Kolkata had good passenger volumes. However, flights from Bangalore always ran to full capacity, said Carneiro. 80 per cent of the business class passengers from Bangalore were repeat flyers.

The company has reported an operating profit of £540 million from their global operations and a pre-tax profit of £415 million in 2004-05 These were up from £415 million and £230, respectively, from the previous year.

The company has invested pounds two million for their 'India, the world is waiting' campaign. It was the first brand campaign by the company specifically made for a particular market, said Carneiro. The company has plans of investing £200 million in the coming year to upgrade their web and in-flight facilities, he said.