British airlines fight for Indian turf

By Gargi Parsai

NEW DELHI, AUG. 25. The fight for the Indian turf between two British airlines has intensified with one of them, the Virgin Atlantic, seeking cancellation of the Government permission to its competitor, the British Airways, for operating thrice weekly new flights to Calcutta from October end.

The licence was given to the British Airways outside the bi- lateral air services agreement between India and the United Kingdom.

The Virgin Atlantic has protested to the British Aviation Authorities against, what they call, unilateral ``illegal'' permission given to its competitor. What hurts the airline more is that the Virgin is yet to get permission to operate a third service between Delhi and London under a code-share arrangement with Air India. The General Manager, India, of Virgin, Mr. Mackenzie Grant, told The Hindu here today that they have filed an application before the British Civil Aviation authorities to ``vary British Airways's licence to operate to Calcutta, without also offering them the option to operate the route''.

While the airline is awaiting a response to their complaint from the British Civil Aviation Authority, they are considering other recourses such as seeking a ``judicial review'' or appealing to the Minister for Civil Aviation to review the decision. In any case, they have put in a request with the British Civil Aviation Authorities to consider them for future flights to India.

Confirming the complaint filed by the Virgin, a British Airways spokesperson said, ``Who should be given permission is for the British Government to decide. We are committed to Calcutta and have served that market for many years.''

The British Airways proposes to operate the thrice weekly non- stop flights between Calcutta-London on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays and the return flights between London- Calcutta on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.

The Virgin Atlantic flies twice weekly between India and the United Kingdom on a code-share arrangement with the Air India, while the British Airways operates 19 flights a week between U.K. and four destinations in India including Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and now, Calcutta. The Air India is the other important player on the route with 10 weekly services to London from various destinations in India.

Looking to the traffic, the British Airways is seeking 21 flights between India and U.K., while the Virgin has filed for permission to operate a third weekly flight between Delhi and London from October, for now.

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