Virgin Atlantic is to invest up to £300 million in its flights to India, with two new A330s, with the latest Upper Class product, operating daily from London Heathrow to Delhi and Mumbai. The airline dropped the latter route four years ago.
One million people fly between Mumbai and the UK each year, with the market increasing by 10% in the past two years, and with India’s economy one of the fastest growing in the world, Virgin expects passenger numbers to continue to rise.
Sir Richard Branson, President of Virgin Atlantic, said: “We are delighted to be back in this amazing city after four years. The importance of strengthening the connections between the economies of New York, London and Mumbai cannot be emphasised enough – our daily connecting service from Mumbai all the way to New York will be a winner for businesses across all three continents. Given the importance of both of our Indian markets, we are introducing our newest aircraft on flights to both Mumbai and Delhi.”
As regards possible acquistions in India, he added: “Now foreign companies have been allowed to pick up 49%, so we are keeping our eyes open. It’s a brave battle going on in the Indian aviation space now. Everybody is bleeding. There will be a right time and we will watch.”
