Air India to fly direct to Amritsar from UK
Air India is introducing a new twice-weekly non-stop service from Birmingham to Amritsar, with the inaugural flight taking off on 20 February.
The new service will be the UK’s only direct service to Amritsar, and will operate on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
The route complements the airline’s popular Birmingham-Delhi service, which launched in August 2013 and has carried more than 600,000 passengers since then.
Amritsar is set to be a popular route as it offers direct access to the major commercial and cultural centre in the heart of the Punjab and the home of the Golden Temple.
Pankaj Srivastava, director, commercial and board member of Air India, said: “We are delighted that we are commencing direct services between Birmingham and Amritsar twice weekly, recognising the consumer demand from the Midlands’ region to Amritsar, Punjab.
The Harmandir Sahib of Amritsar is a major tourist attraction
“Air India is always very sensitive to the needs of the consumer and is pleased to be connecting the two important cities thereby adding a new city pairing for Air India’s expanding global network with the only non-stop UK Amritsar service.”
William Pearson, aviation director at Birmingham Airport, added: “It is great news that we will have direct non-stop connections to two Indian cities from Birmingham Airport with Air India.
“With over 200,000 British-Indian people who travel to India each year to visit friends and relatives, and for tourism and business interests, this additional destination shows the large demand within the region for direct Amritsar services from the Midlands.
“Air India has been a successful partner for over four years and offers great connections to India with services operated by the new Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft.”
Vishwanath Panyam, senior assistant, general manager, Air India, said: “This service is in response to long standing demands between the Punjab and the UK Midlands. We expect this flight to be very popular and may lead to future growth.”
