The Northern Indian city will be served three times a week by Bmi starting on October 13.
Flights, which are still subject to government approval, will be operated by an A330 with an en route stop in Almaty, Kazakhstan. The aircraft is configured with 36 business (60 inches of legroom with 50 degree angle of recline) and 196 economy class seats (32 inches of legroom).
Schedule details are as follows:
- BD991 – Depart Heathrow 0955, arrive Almaty 2320; Depart Almaty 0010, arrive Amritsar 0245; days of week: Monday, Thursday and Saturday
- BD992 – Depart Amritsar 0410, arrive Almaty 0745; Depart Almaty 08:45, arrive Heathrow 10:50; days of week: Tuesday, Friday and Sunday
Readers will remember that Bmi previously served Mumbai in the days following airline liberalisation in India. But the route was subsequently dropped. Amritsar was previously served non-stop from London in 2006 by Jet Airways, but that route too was dropped some time later.
Bmi believes it can succeed on this occasion because it is spreading its risks. The canny carrier is managing to serve Amritsar by simply extending an existing route (London-Almaty). Flight time between Almaty and Amritsar is only 2 hours 40 mins so the increased operating costs will be minimal compared to the expense of flying London-Amritsar non-stop.
For more information visit flybmi.com.
Report by Alex McWhirter