Forget busy London, fly to other cities, says UK minister

Suggests connections to Manchester, Glasgow and Birmingham, as Heathrow slots are very hard to get

Look beyond London; come to Manchester, Birmingham or Glasgow. That’s what the UK government is telling Indian airlines.

Air India and Jet Airways currently operate flights to Heathrow airport in London. But, they are unable to add more flights as it is nearly impossible to get free slots in the world’s third busiest airport. Air India also flies to Birmingham, about 164 km northwest of the UK capital.

UK’s Aviation Minister Tariq Ahmad was in India to negotiate a new air service agreement, and met chief executives of Jet Airways and Vistara on Wednesday. India and UK already have a limited open-skies pact.

On Thursday, the two countries revised the agreement, scrapping limits on flights from Chennai and Kolkata to UK. Over 2.5 million people travel between the two countries. There are 88 scheduled services each way.

“The Indian market is important for us. A major part of my visit was to look at how we can strengthen our relationship,” Ahmad told Business Standard.

While airlines focus largely on Heathrow, the UK government is making a pitch for connections to other airports, such as Manchester, Birmingham and also the Gatwick airport south of London.

“People focus on Heathrow, but there are many airports which offer both domestic and international connectivity,” the minister said, adding the 1.5-million strong Indian diaspora in the UK can be source of traffic for Indian airlines.

“We want to work with India on aviation safety and security and the regulatory environment. NATS (UK air traffic service provider) has already been working with Mumbai airport on capacity enhancement and we want that to continue,” he said.

Ahmad said the government makes no decision in slot allocation at Heathrow. “I can’t predict which new slot will open up (at Heathrow) and which airline will give up. That is a matter for the airlines themselves,” he added. A third runway will be ready at the airport by 2025.