The British Midland International (BMI), a part of the Lufthansa airlines, is all set to introduce a new flight between London (Heathrow) and Amritsar.
The new flight has raised the hopes for revival of perishable cargo at Sri Guru Ramdas Ji (SGRJ) International Airport. Operating thrice a week, the flight will commence on October 13. These flights will arrive here from Heathrow, via Almaty in Kazakhstan on Monday, Thursday and Saturday. The return flights from Amritsar will again be via Almaty on Tuesday, Friday and Sunday. The BMI has initiated the sale of tickets.
Flights will be operated on a wide-bodied Airbus A330 aircraft, which returns into service for BMI this week after its lease to Turkish Airlines. The refurbished aircraft will offer 36 business class and 196 economy class seats.
The aircraft has 44 tonnes cargo capacity which can easily accommodate export consignments of fresh vegetables. Perishable cargo has been lying defunct since Air India discontinued its direct Amritsar-London-Toronto flight in October last.
The discontinuation of Air India’s direct flight from Amritsar to London had created a hue and cry among the NRIs of Punjabi origin settled in England. They reasoned that the convenient and financially lucrative link between Amritsar and London had been snapped without a valid reason. A sizeable number of Punjabis are settled in the UK.
The BMI is the second largest airline at London Heathrow, with flights over 40 destinations worldwide. It would be its maiden commercial venture in north western India.
