British Airways bullish on Indian market

British Airways today said India has become the second largest market for the airliner and witnessed 10 per cent growth in terms of seats last year, a senior official of British Airways said today.
"India is one of the fastest growing markets for British Airways. It is only second to North America. We would like to improve our share as we expand. We grow around 10 per cent in terms of seats in this market. This is one of the biggest growth areas in our global net work," Christopher Fordyce, Regional Commercial Manager, South Asia told reporters here.
Replying to query he said British Airways has recently increased the number of flights to 48 per week operating daily flights to Hyderabad and Bangalore apart from two flights a day to Mumbai and Delhi and six flights to Chennai.

Fordyce said the first Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft which was adorned with a plaque commemorating and honouring the megastar Amitabh Bachchan from London touched down at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport today.
The new aircraft forms the centerpiece of the airline's 5 billion pounds investment programme it announced earlier. The airline has ordered 12 A380s and 24 Boeing 787s. Eight of these aircraft have already joined the fleet, and a further eight will join the fleet later this year. The remaining aircraft rest over the next two years.
To a query on Dreamliner's performance, Fordyce said they are getting good feedback from customers on the aircraft.

"We see Dreamliner as fantastic aircraft to fly. Our customers have already been experiencing it. They give some fantastic feedback also," he said.
The new Dreamliners will feature the elegant cabin designs fitted on British Airways' new Boeing 777-300 ER aircraft, which have proved very popular with customers, he added.