Amritsar Launched New Route Flight from Birmingham Airport to India

Birmingham flights to the Indian holy city of Amritsar are being increased – as hundreds of West Midland families flock to the world-renowned Golden Temple.

A new route to India, launched from Birmingham Airport less than a fortnight ago, has had so much interest the airline now plans to increase the number of weekly services.

Comtel Air began flights to Amritsar from Birmingham on October 1 and planned to operate two weekly services each Saturday and Sunday.

But the airline says it has had such an overwhelming response from the region’s Indian community it will be increasing the flights from Birmingham, taking an aircraft from another European base to accommodate demand in the Midlands.

Thomas Kopetzky, Director Ground Operations for Comtel Air, said: “We knew there was demand for more flights to India from Birmingham due to the large Asian community living in the Midlands and we thought that we’d eventually have to put on more flights but we never imagined we’d have to make this decision so soon after launching the first service.

“It just goes to show that people want to use their local airport to visit their friends and relatives out in India rather than travelling to London.”

Since launching the first Birmingham flight, Comtel Air has carried 744 passengers on four flights between Birmingham and Amritsar.

Martyn Lloyd, Air Service Development Director at Birmingham Airport said: “We’re delighted that Thomas and his team have shown confidence in Birmingham Airport, and indeed the region, and that they’ve had such an enormous response from the Midlands community.

“The success, in such a short period, proves that people want to fly from Birmingham and shows the enormous potential that’s available.”

The flights, on Boeing 757-200 aircraft, have a short stop in Vienna due to Indian Government restrictions before flying onward to Amritsar in the Punjab.

Singapore Airlines Adds Flights to Mumbai as Part of Regional Route Expansion Program

Singapore Airlines (SIA) has said it will increase flights to Mumbai to 17 from 14 at present, as part of its regional route expansion from end of October and March 24 next year, according to media reports.

SIA said its weekly flights would also double to 14 to Guangzhou in China and increase weekly services to Bangkok to 35 from 28, ‘The Straits Times’ reported today.

Citing strong growth in regional travel, SIA said its subsidiary ‘SilkAir’ would also increase flights to Bangalore as well as Chengdu and Chongqing in China.

SIA said it was also seeing a pick-up in travel to Japan, after the earthquake and radiation scare of March.

SIA would resume its twice daily flight to Tokyo’s Haneda Airport, the report said.

The SIA flight expansion comes after the International Air Transport Association reported this week a 9.5 per cent year-on-year growth in the number of first and business class travellers and 5.5 per cent growth in economy class in May this year.

Elsewhere, Austalia’s Jetstar is investing USD 500 million to add seven new planes to its fleet of 14 by this year-end, it said.

With more planes, Jetstar would increase its routes with flights to Beijing and Ningbo in China and Hanoi in Vietnam, the report added.

New International Destination Flight : Dubai’s Emirates Airlines Launches Flight Service to Basra, Iraq

Dubai carrier has marked its 110th international destination with its inaugural flight to Basra.

Dubai’s Emirates Airlines said on Wednesday it launched service to Basra in southern Iraq, its first destination in the war-torn country.

“Emirates has marked its 110th international destination today with its inaugural flight to Basra, the airline’s first service into Iraq,” a statement said.

“Iraq is experiencing a surge in growth and it is our goal to help the country prosper and flourish. The potential for this destination is significant and Emirates is committed to working alongside the Iraqi authorities to make Basra a success,” president Tim Clark said in the statement.

“Iraq is a key destination for Emirates and we expect our operations to Basra to thrive alongside the city’s growth,” Clark said.

Emirates will operate Airbus A330 flights to and from Basra on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, the airline said.

It will also provide cargo services, estimating that 130 tonnes of freight would travel between Dubai and Basra each week.

Expected cargo includes equipment for oil companies and a “diverse range” of other goods, it added.

Emirates said in May that it planned to launch thrice-weekly service to Baghdad in July, but has yet to do so.

Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways launched flights to the Iraqi capital on April 26.

Jet Airways to Start Daily Non-Stop Flights From Delhi to Milan

Jet Airways will commence daily non-stop flights from New Delhi to Milan from December 5, the airline said.

The service on the India-Italy route will make Milan the 24th international destination on Jet Airways network, it said.

The airline will operate the new service by using Airbus 330-200 aircraft. Configured in two classes, there will be 30 seats in Première (Business Class) and 190 seats in Economy Class.

Shares of the company gained Rs 10.75, or 1.33%, to trade at Rs 818.10. The total volume of shares traded was 94,518 at the BSE (10.31 a.m., Friday).

Crisis for Airlines as Passenger Figures Fall by 500,000

Scotland’s main airports have lost almost 500,000 passengers in just 10 months, signalling a reversal in the era of expanding air travel and highlighting a major dent in the Scottish economy.
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