Gujaratis in UK seek direct London-Ahmedabad flight

Gujaratis in the UK are pushing for a direct flight from London to Ahmedabad. This was confirmed by Darren Murphy, former media advisor to the British prime minister, Tony Blair, who spoke at a meet organised by the Gujarat Media Club in Ahmedabad.

It should be noted that the issue of a direct flight between London and Ahmedabad had also cropped up during the recently concluded Vishwa Gujarati Parishad meet. Murphy was in the city to talk about the importance of Gujarati diaspora viz-a-viz the socio, economic and political scenario in UK and the US.

Talking about the Gujarati diaspora in UK, Murphy spoke about the history of the community's migration to UK and was all praise for the entrepreneurial skills of Gujaratis.

"The Gujarati community forms 43% of the total ethnic minority in UK. London alone has 7 lakh Gujaratis. The innovation and entrepreneurial spirit that is part of the community's DNA helped them prosper. Their entrepreneurship skills, high savings, social networking and community development efforts have ensured their progress."

He further said that of the second and third generation Indians in UK, 64% of the Indian origin people have university degrees against the national average of 25%.

"But the Gujarati community has made a remarkable economic progress in UK and you can find them operating small retail shops to large corporations," Murphy said.

Murphy is managing director, global services to government, in APCO Worldwide - a public affairs and strategic communication firm.

He provides expertise in crisis communication, strategic communication and government relations.