Bengaluru is first connect to South India and holds great promise, says Virgin Atlantic Airway's top official

DH Interview

Starting March 2024, Britain’s Virgin Atlantic Airway will add a third Indian city to its destinations in the subcontinent. The daily flights connecting Bengaluru to London’s Heathrow are expected to harness the massive corporate traffic on the route. In the run up to this strategic expansion in India, the airline’s Country Manager – South Asia Alex McEwan, took a few questions from DH’s Lavpreet Kaur on his company’s plans for India as well as that for its global spread.

Edited excerpts

What are your most robust routes? Any from India?

Transatlantic flights are a key part of our identity and of our network too. About 70 per cent of our flights are between the UK and North America.We operate 12 different destinations within North America on a direct basis. New York is a key market for us with multiple daily frequencies followed by Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle and Boston. We have a joint venture, with Delta and Air France-KLM for flights from Europe to North America which offers even more connecting options for customers in India

In India, we carry a high volume of passengers from Delhi. In fact, both Delhi and Mumbai flights are doing well, with occupancy of almost 85 per cent. India is not only a popular destination but also a very significant source for passengers travelling to the UK and the US.

How important is India to your business and what are your plans for this market?

India is our third largest market after the United Kingdom and the States, with a 5-10 per cent share in our global revenue. Four years ago (September 2019) we were operating only one daily flight between London and Delhi. Since then we have added Mumbai and a second daily Delhi service, marking a growth of 250 per cent in the last four years. With the addition of Bengaluru next year, we will have four daily flights, significantly increasing India’s revenue share. 

We are looking at no other destination in India presently as our partnership with Indigo gives us  foreseeable points across India. 

Why Bengaluru?

Bengaluru was an obvious choice as the third destination. After operating for India for the last 23 years, this is our first time flying into the South. It is a rapidly growing city, home to more than half of India’s unicorns with many large and growing corporations, which naturally stimulates travel. Not only from the perspective of corporate travel, but it’s also about volumes of passengers who do leisure and VFR (visiting friends and relatives) travel to the UK and US. Bengaluru allows us to connect passengers from all across the south to London and then to the US, where global tech companies often have large interests and offices. We’re very bullish about the prospects when our operations start from the city next year.

Where is the most demand coming from in your codeshare flights with Indigo?

In the last 12 months of our codeshare agreement with Indigo, we have flown over 30,000 passengers, exceeding our expectations for the first months. Goa has emerged as one of the most popular destinations with many UK holidaymakers flying into Goa from our connecting services in Delhi and Mumbai, especially during the winter season when the weather is not particularly nice in the UK. Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Hyderabad and Bengaluru were other top markets in India.

As a global player what are the challenges you see in India that need to be addressed? 

Airport infrastructure needs to be improved. At Delhi and Mumbai, where there are multiple terminals, connectivity between domestic and international terminals need to be focussed on. Investing on this would boost customer experience and our business thereof.

Bengaluru airport is the most beautiful airport I’ve been to, not just in terms of design, but it is also a very effective airport in terms of connections. 

What are your global expansion plans?

We are starting a daily service from London Heathrow to São Paulo, Brazil from May 2024,  a summer service from Manchester to Las Vegas; three times a week from June 2024, three times a week service to Maldives this winter, which is well positioned to capture the continued resurgence in premium leisure. We are also returning on our London Heathrow to Dubai route operating seasonally from October 2023 through to March 2024 four times a week.

What are the travel trends out of India?

India was the largest country in terms of student visas from the UK  this year, surpassing China, making up a big part of our student passengers into London. We are seeing destinations like Barbados, St Lucia, Bahamas and Maldives are quite popular for Indian passengers, despite no dearth of beaches in the country.  Last year, we launched Austin in Texas, which has also emerged as a popular destination from India, more from a corporate travel perspective. Bengaluru will be the next big thing, given its tech hub profile.