BA keeps up flights to Bombay

British Airways has received a boost to business following the chaos in Bombay by maintaining its schedule to the Indian city throughout the terror attacks, The Times has learnt.
Along with Virgin Atlantic but almost alone among major European carriers, BA also kept its route open from London’s Heathrow airport on Wednesday night as news of the terror attacks was breaking.
BA carries up to 600 people to and from Bombay every day on its two routes — which are among the busiest and most profitable in its schedules.
The airline is understood to have been inundated with requests after Air France, Alitalia and Lufthansa cancelled flights on Thursday.
A spokesman said: “We’ve kept our two days going as normal and are filling them up. They were pretty full anyway but there are plenty of people, mainly business people, who still need to get to Bombay.”
He said that, like Virgin Atlantic, BA was allowing customers who had already bought flights to Bombay, but who had changed their minds about travelling to the city, to rebook to alternative destinations in India at no additional cost.
Cathay Pacific, which runs three daily flights to and from Bombay on a daily basis, has also waived its usual re-booking and re-routing charges to customers.
Jet Airways, which flies direct to Bombay from Heathrow, is offering free cancellations on flights until today and is offering free re-routing, as is Air India, which has kept its schedules unchanged.
Lufthansa cancelled two flights to Bombay from Frankfurt and Munich on Thursday but resumed its service yesterday.
Air France — which had 20 cabin crew rescued from the Oberei hotel yesterday — also cancelled two flights on Thursday. Alitalia has cancelled all flights until further notice.
28/11/08 Ian King/Times Online, UK

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Categories: Foreign Nov 2008