After discontinuing operations about four years ago, Virgin Atlantic is now offering connections to important hubs in USA and the UK. Richard Branson, President, Virgin Atlantic is very excited to be back in business in Mumba. He believes that, this time around, Virgin Atlantic will only see success and growth as the London-Mumbai route is one of the busiest internationally with around 10 lakh people flying every year on business and personal visits. “Virgin Atlantic has been flying for 30 years and it is on very rare occasions that we do not succeed on a route. The last time we did not have the right slots at London. We have the right slots and the right plane now,” he said.
With its Mumbai route launch, Virgin Atlantic is looking to build on record demand for travel between Delhi, London and New York. Last year, there was a 13 per cent increase in the airline’s passenger numbers between Delhi and London. Branson attributes much of the increase to more passengers connecting via London. “We want to develop this trend further with the introduction of a new service to New York. The latest addition to Virgin’s schedule means passengers can connect easily to New York along with the existing connection to Newark from Delhi. This sixth daily service to New York will depart at night from Heathrow which returns early the next day from JFK airport,” he said.
Branson further added that although Air India, Jet Airways and British Airways, who also operate on the London-Mumbai route, have slashed their fares considerably to counter the re-entry of Virgin Atlantic, they expect a market share of 20 per cent going ahead between the four players. The airline is also looking to add more Indian destinations and has applied for permissions to fly to Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Goa.
With India’s economy remaining one of the fastest growing in the world, Branson believes that restarting the Mumbai route will double the capacity to India. He also shared that Virgin Atlantic is looking at a £300 million product investment programme for India. “The two new A330 aircraft, flying to both Mumbai and Delhi represents a record product investment in the region for the airline,” he said, adding that this recent move has created 140 new jobs across India and the UK.
Commenting on investment opportunities in Indian airlines, he said, “With the new Government rule of 49 per cent FDI, we are keeping our eyes open. It’s a bold battle going on in the Indian aviation space now. Everybody is bleeding. There will be a right time and we will wait.”
The airline is targeting business, VFR and leisure travellers, which represent 80 per cent of the 300,000 plus passengers. Commenting on the visa restrictions to the UK, Branson said, “The restrictions upset not just business travel, but also holiday flights to India. But that is something that the Government needs to address immediately.”
