India’s national carrier played Santa as it announced its decision to commence daily flights from Birmingham from December 21, Sunday. Air India will use modern Boeing 787 ‘Dreamliner’ aircraft in the sector. The new service will be a boon to passengers living in the Midlands and North. The Birmingham Airport is linked with Birmingham International on the rail network.
During the celebrations to mark its first anniversary at Birmingham airport, the airline’s Commercial Director, Mr Pankaj Srivastava promised to commence the daily operations very soon from the Midland’s main airport.
“Air India is committed to develop and grow in this market and once we have taken the delivery of our 18th Dreamliner aircraft in November, we hope to launch the daily operation from Birmingham Airport,” Mr Srivastava said. “This will provide an extra 1,500 seats a week and give passengers greater choice, flexibility and opportunity to travel from the convenience of Birmingham Airport to Amritsar and Delhi, and onwards on Air India’s extensive global network.”
Air India’s current schedule operates from Birmingham each Saturday, Monday, Tuesday and Thursday on its B787 Dreamliner aircraft, which has a 256 split seat cabin consisting of 18 business class and 238 economy seats.
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is a long-range, mid-size wide-body, twin-engine jet airliner which entered into commercial service in October 2012. Boeing states that it is the company’s most fuel-efficient airliner and the world’s first major airliner to use composite materials as the primary material in the construction of its airframe. The 787 has been designed to be 20% more fuel efficient than the 767 it is to replace.