British Airways will launch its sixth weekly service between London and Chennai on October 27. It hopes to launch a daily service when there is sustained growth in passenger traffic, according to Christopher Fordyce, Regional Commercial Manager, British Airways, South Asia.

The airline started flying from London to Chennai 25 years back.

“We are celebrating 25 years of our commitment to Chennai with the new service,” he told newspersons. The airline continues to post double-digit growth with Chennai being the fastest-growing market in the region, he said, without providing any numbers.

Fordyce said there is a mix of both business and leisure travel out of Chennai. There is a steady increase in the number of officials from small and medium size enterprises travelling to London and beyond, he said.

More than half the passengers travel beyond London, and of this, nearly 98 per cent head to the US, he said.

The airline has been operating services to India for 84 years, and now has 46 flights a week from London Heathrow to Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi, Bangalore and Hyderabad.

On November 3, 1988, British Airways’ Lockheed TriStar 200 connected Heathrow Terminal 4 and Chennai (then Madras) via Kuwait two times a week. Since then, the airline has been steadily increasing its service to the city. Today, it has five services every week between Chennai and London.

Fordyce said he was not worried about competition from Gulf-based airlines such as Emirates and Kuwait Airways increasing their focus on the US market.

Starting Tuesday, British Airways will shift its operations to the new international terminal, he said.

> raja.simhan@thehindu.co.in

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