According to sources, the airline has earmarked around £2 million for marketing and promotion exercises for the Indian market.
LONDON: “For India, the world is waiting,” reads the newly designed marketing campaign by British Airways.
Foreseeing enormous business potential from its Indian operations, the airline has set aside a huge sum for marketing and promotion activities for India.
According to sources, the airline has earmarked around £2 million for marketing and promotion exercises for the Indian market and for that it has also created a television commercial ‘For India, the world is waiting’ to tap the market.
The source, however, couldn’t disclose the name of the agency or the specific cost of the commercial made for international airline.
For its Bangalore services the airline has designed a marketing campaign called ‘ba galore’. The campaign has been conceptualised internally.
The airline is also doubling up of direct flights out of a country in a year’s time.
“For British Airways, this is India’s year and everyone in the company is focusing on increasing business from this market as the Indian sub-continent is experiencing major growth. And for the first time in the history of British Airways that we have doubled our flights from any country in the world, in a year that is,” said Robert James Baird, area general manager, Africa, the Middle-East, Central and South Asia, British Airways.
Starting this year, the airline was servicing the Indian market with 19 flights per week. This frequency has been increased to 35 at present and expected to on to 42 flights per week by the summer of 2006.
Headquartered in the UK, British Airways is one of the world’s largest international airlines and has been operating in India for the last 76 years. Until October 31, 2005 the international airline has been flying to four Indian cities including a daily service to New Delhi, double daily service to Mumbai, three times per week to Kolkata and six flights a week to Chennai.
Following the success of bilateral talks between the UK and India, direct flights between Bangalore and London Heathrow were started from October 31, 2005. British Airways currently has five flights a week from Bangalore, which is now the fifth Indian city to have a direct connectivity to London Heathrow. Starting of the Bangalore operations has led to creation of 60 new jobs in the city.
Chief executive of British Airways Willie Walsh is going to be in Bangalore on Monday November 14, 2005 to officially inaugurate the direct flight from Bangalore to London Heathrow. He will be accompanied by other key officials of the airline including Vineet Bhatia, member of BA’s culinary council, and also the culinary brain behind creating Indian delicacies for its passengers on the Indian - London Heathrow route.
“India is a very crucial market for us and adding Bangalore to our portfolio is an achievement. We have been working hard to start direct flights from the Indian Silicon Valley and here we are with five flights a week out of the city. Adding to our customer’s convenience factor, we have also launched the online boarding pass facility in Bangalore,” said Baird.
As of now, approximately 79 airports across the globe accept BA online boarding passes and Bangalore is the first city in India to offer this facility to passengers patronising British Airways.
“Getting an online boarding pass in the convenience of one’s home, office or hotel is a unique facility - something being offered in India for the first time. We will look into extending this service to other cities in the near future as well,” informed Baird.
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