In a sign of the growing importance of Indian aviation market for the world’s biggest airlines, British Airways has deployed its first Boeing 787-9 on the London-Delhi route.
BA’s second 787-9 joined the fleet last week and will start flying to Abu Dhabi and Muscat on November 5. Other future routes include Kuala Lumpur, Austin and San Jose, California.
The new 787s are the centrepiece of BA’s £5 billion investment programme to benefit customers. A total of 42 Dreamliners will join BA and this aircraft will become the mainstay of the airline’s fleet. BA’s B787-9 Dreamliner is 20 feet longer than its 787-8 predecessor and has four classes with an addition of a new first cabin.The 216-seat aircraft offers eight first class cabins along with 42 Business Class, 39 Premium Economy and 127 Economy seats. The new Dreamliner, according to Moran Birger, Regional Commercial Manager for South Asia, BA, is 20 feet longer than the 787-8 version and therefore has been able to offer 4-class configuration. While the aircraft offers more Business Class and Premium Economy seats, the Economy offering is less than what -8’s used to offer.
Robert Williams, BA’s head of sales for Asia-Pacific, said, “We are delighted to launch our very first Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner to New Delhi with a brand new First cabin. It reinforces our strong focus on India as a market, which already enjoys the second largest position for us globally, after the US and outside the UK. At British Airways, we are committed to putting the customer at the heart of everything we do, offering the very best in comfort and luxury on board our flights as well as an expansive global network covering more than 179 cities in 75 countries.”
Moran Birger, Regional Commercial Manager-South Asia, BA said BA operates 49 frequencies a week from five cities in India. While the airline operates two daily frequencies from Delhi and Mumbai, it operates daily from Chennai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru to London. “This makes India second largest market for BA after US outside UK,” said Williams. Talking about the Premium Economy offering, Williams said that it will give more choice for corporate as well as leisure travelers to select between Business and Economy. While BA considers Mumbai equally potential for 4-class configuration B787-9, the BA officials didn’t give any timeline for introducing the same on London- Delhi route. Biger said that the airline has been focusing on the South India market of late and enhanced the capacity into Chennai and Hyderabad.
