New Delhi: IAG, the parent company of British Airways and the Spanish carrier, Iberia, wants to get around 56 more daily slots at London's Heathrow airport. But this is not worrying Indian carriers wanting to fly to London, at least not for the moment.
The need for new slots arises from IAG and Lufthansa reached agreeing to acquire British Midland Ltd for £172.5 million.
“This acquisition will not impact Indian carriers as the India-UK market is presently well served. However, future expansion into Heathrow by Indian carriers will be impacted but I do not see expansion in the near term,” said Mr Kapil Kaul, Chief Executive Officer, South Asia, Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation. He also pointed out that Indian carriers, particularly Kingfisher, had bought expensive slots at Heathrow in 2008-09.
The former Chairman and Managing Director of Air India, Mr V. Thulasidas, told Business Line that even in 2007 getting slots for the airline at Heathrow was extremely difficult.
A senior official of an Indian airline operating to Heathrow added that the bigger worry was the dominant position that British Airways would enjoy over a global gateway hub such as Heathrow.
30/12/11 Ashwini Phadnis/Business Line
To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline
0 comments:
Post a Comment