British Airways Reaching Out to Students

SP’s Airbuz (SP’s): What are the expansion plans of British Airways in India and in South Asia?

Moran Birger (Birger): We continue to put our customers at the heart of everything we do. Currently, we are part way through our £5 billion investment in new aircraft, smarter cabins, better lounges around our network and new technologies to make life more comfortable in the air and on the ground. To name a few examples, from March 2014 we boosted our Hyderabad operations with the launch of a new Boeing 787 Dreamliner, and from October 2014 we launched another Boeing 787 Dreamliner to Chennai and increase our flights from six times a week to daily. Our customers from New Delhi have been flying in the most technologically advanced aircraft in our fleet, the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner since October 2015. Our customers from Mumbai will soon be able to do the same after state-of-the-art aircraft starts its operation on the route next month (September 2016). Regarding expansion plans in other countries in South Asia, we have reassumed our daily flights to Kuala Lumpur from May last year. However, at this stage, we do not have anything to announce yet.

SP’s: Could you tell us briefly about the Student Outreach Programme?

Birger: British Airways is proud to continue its long-standing tradition of supporting the growing student community in the country with the launch of social media driven contest #FlyBA. We encourage students from India to enter our FlyBA contest to stand a chance of a lifetime opportunity to experience London with British Airways. British Airways will be flying the winning student(s) to London and invite them to a full-day tour at our headquarters near London Heathrow. There will be opportunity for the winner(s) to meet and interact with the Global Leaders of British Airways to be inspired to become a great global leaders in the future.

SP’s: We are given to understand that as UK does not allow work after students graduate, hence the number of admissions in UK universities have been adversely impacted. Indian students have started looking at other countries. Has this impacted your business too?

Birger: UK has always enjoyed a reputation to be one of the best higher education countries in the world. According to the figures released by the British Council, in 2013-14, there were more than 21,000 students from India who chose to study in UK. UK remains to be the second most favourite country for students from India to study overseas. We believe this trend will continue in the years to come.

SP’s: Besides increased baggage allowance, what other benefits do you provide to students travelling to the UK?

Birger: We recently launched an annual offer for students travelling from India to the UK, Europe, US and Canada with a generous double baggage allowance, that means each passenger is entitled to checking in one extra piece of luggage weighing up to 23 kg for free. The student offer is valid for outbound travel from now until September 30, 2016, on any of the 49 flights a week from New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad. Students from India flying to destinations other than London can make seamless flight connections at London Heathrow to over 20 cities in UK and 40 destinations in Europe. What’s more, the British Airways’ codeshare agreement with American Airlines means our young customers can take advantage of the combined network that covers more than 200 destinations in the world. In addition to this, we have also partnered with Jabong, Airbnb, HDFC Credila student loans and Matrix to bring more discounts and other benefits to further enhance students’ travel experience.

SP’s: Students find it convenient to travel by other airlines ( for instance, Emirates), even if it means a layover of additional three-four hours, as it is cheaper. This is important, considering that most of them will be on student loans.

Birger: British Airways is proud to support students from India with our convenient schedules and stress-free connections from London to other destinations in the UK, Europe, US and Canada. Apart from the double baggage allowance of two pieces of checked baggage of up to 23 kg for free, students who are members of British Airways’ Executive Club frequent flyer programme can also collect Avios points for redemption of reward flights later. With British Airways being a member of Oneworld, the award-winning alliance, and the codeshare agreement with American Airlines, our young customers can enjoy the benefit of having access to more than 500 destinations around the globe including the UK, Europe, US, Canada and Mexico. We are constantly working towards offering our customers great value for their money, and providing them the very best of award-winning services and travelling experience.

SP’s: You have daily flights from Bengaluru to London. What has been the average passenger load factor on this sector?

Birger: Due to company policy we are not able to provide breakdown on these figures. India is British Airways’ second largest market outside the UK after the US. Fuelled by the burgeoning Indian middle class with increasing purchasing power, increasingly number of people are looking to travel internationally for leisure and business. We are ready and we look forward to welcoming more travellers from India including Bengaluru onboard our flights.

“BRITISH AIRWAYS IS PROUD TO SUPPORT STUDENTS FROM INDIA WITH OUR CONVENIENT SCHEDULES AND STRESS-FREE CONNECTIONS FROM LONDON TO OTHER DESTINATIONS IN THE UK, EUROPE, US AND CANADA”

SP’s: The Government of India has opened up the foreign direct investment (FDI) in airlines. Will British Airways look at such prospects?

Birger: Our aim is to be a global airline group and we are pleased with any steps towards full liberalisation of the aviation industry. India is a key market for our parent company IAG and we will monitor the changing regulatory environment but at this stage we have no plans to invest in any Indian airlines.

SP’s: The government has now allowed international flights for Indian carriers (amending the 5/20 rule). As and when these operators take to international destinations, will it eat into your market share? Or is the Indian international travel market growing substantially that it has room for everyone?

Birger: We think that competition is healthy for any business and our customer would benefit from it. Competition means giving more choices and power to the customers, and it also enables us to constantly review our offering in the market and improve on them.

SP’s: You mention that you have ‘seamlessly’ connected Bengaluru and San Francisco. Could you give details – the layover time, etc? What other destinations beyond London are on the cards?

Birger: Bengaluru is an integral part of our strategy in India. From early 2015, our new daily service between Bengaluru and London offer the customer a seamless connection with our Airbus A380 service between London Heathrow and San Francisco.