Jet Airways’ shutdown from April 17, 2019, creating a void on domestic and international sectors, as they were one of the largest Indian carriers for worldwide capacity. A lot of routes, especially Mumbai/Delhi to London Heathrow and Mumbai/Delhi/Bangalore to Amsterdam, were severely affected.
British Airways is the largest carrier for India – UK flights. Currently, British Airways operates 2x daily flights from London Heathrow to Delhi and Mumbai and daily flights from London Heathrow to Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Chennai. British Airways added an extra 4x weekly rotation on the Mumbai – London Heathrow route from June 2, 2019.
From January 1, 2020, British Airways will operate a daily A350-1000 service to Bengaluru from London Heathrow with the all-new Club Suites.
British Airways 787
From March 1, 2020, British Airways will add a third daily Mumbai – London Heathrow flight. From March 1, 202o to March 28, 2020, the flight will be operated by a four class 787-9 with the following schedule,
BA135 LHR1215 – 0250(+1 day)BOM 789 D
BA134 BOM0450 – 0930LHR 789 D
From March 29, 2020, the third daily flight will be operated by a four class 777-200ER with the following schedule.
BA135 LHR1710 – 0700(+1 day)BOM 772 D
BA134 BOM0900 – 1415LHR 772 D
From March 29, 2020, BA 198/199 will switch from a four class 777-200ER to a three-class 777-200ER (no first class cabin). With this British Airways will operate three daily 777-200ER flights on Mumbai – London Heathrow route.
Virgin Atlantic is also restarting their Mumbai-London Heathrow flights with a daily 787-9 flight from October 27, 2019. British carriers will be utilising 87.5% of their weekly bilateral quota with the new flight additions and will have rights to add only one more daily flight on Mumbai/Delhi – London Heathrow route.
British Airways First Class Suite
Air India, which is now the only Indian carrier to operate long haul routes, has three daily flights on Mumbai/Delhi-London Heathrow routes. Air India has been allocated temporary international rights from Jet Airways kitty to add extra two regular 777-300ER services (4788 seats/week) on Mumbai/Delhi-London Heathrow routes but hasn’t added any new flights to London Heathrow yet. It does have a 777-300ER (VT-ALO) grounded since August 9, 2018, as well as a couple of 787-8s grounded for a few months.
Will you book British Airways’ new third daily rotation on Mumbai-London Heathrow route?
The dates and flights have been confirmed for BA’s A350 LHR-MAD familiarisation flights. For August and September, starting 6th August:
Mon, Tue, Wed, Fri – BA464/BA465
Thu, Sat, Sun – BA456/457 and BA464/BA465
A couple of dates are non-operational due to training and other requirements.