Birmingham airport flights to Amritsar
Birmingham is the perfect base for Akal Air[March 24th 2009]
New flights to the Indian city of Amritsar from Birmingham International airport are to be launched on April 4th.
Akal Air, the trading style of Air Sylhet, will fly twice weekly from Birmingham to Amritsar on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Flights using a Boeing 757 200 capable of carrying 228 passengers will leave Birmingham at 18.30 on both days.
The new flights are good news for the large Asian community in the Midlands. “Birmingham is the perfect base for Akal Air. Access to Amritsar is of huge importance to the large Punjabi and Sikh population of the Midlands taking the pilgrimage to the Golden Temple and visiting family and friends, as well as for business people trading with India’s emerging and developing economy,” says Akal Air managing director, Daljit Singh Birring.
The launch of the flights to Amritsar comes at a tough time for the airline industry – latest figures from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) predict global losses of $4.7 billion this year – but the private investors behind Akal Air believe they can exploit a gap in the market.
“We recognise that we are bucking the trend by launching a new service at a time when others struggle, but the difference between our offering compared to others is that we provide a complete service to high and exacting standards, at a rate which is value for money,” Birring explains.
“We will provide a quality service with in-flight entertainment system on board and a non-transfer flight for our passengers, giving Akal Air a unique position in the market,” he adds.
Akal Air is confident that there is a large potential market in the Midlands for flights to Amritsar despite the current economic climate. The new flights to Amritsar will make a short non-transfer stop in Vienna before flying on to the Indian city.
Business chiefs have also welcomed the new service. “Flights to Amritsar are a high priority for Birmingham and the West Midlands. We are delighted that the plans for these links are being reinstated,” comments Birmingham Chamber of Commerce chief executive, Jerry Blackett.
Written by: Nick Purdom
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