In a major push to scale up its global presence, British Airways will be investing a whopping 4.5 billion pounds in the next five years. The sum will be used to take delivery of 72 new aircraft, fitting 128 long-haul aircraft with new interiors, besides further improving on-board facilities.
The airline currently services more than 200 destinations around the world, including over 60 in Europe and in the UK.
The British flag-carrier is also investing 600 million pounds, specifically, in Club World, including catering and high-end White Company bedding. The airline has further announced that it would offer flyers a new seat with direct aisle access, starting 2019 and commence six new routes, including Nashville and The Seychelles from London.
The massive investment is expected to boost the carrier’s resistance to the relentless expansion in footprints by the Middle-Eastern carriers – which have made significant forays in to the European and the American market in the past years. Emirates, alone, services 23 countries in Europe and 11 destinations in the United States.
This financial injection is also likely to aid British Airways in gaining some of the lost ground in the Indian market. The airline was one of the early movers in India and has been in the market for 90 years. Until the late 1990s, the carrier enjoyed a pole-position and hauled the Indian outbound to London and beyond in the European continent, later ceding the space to other carriers. It currently operates 49 flights from five Indian cities to Heathrow London. The airline had recently unveiled its first Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner and the new ‘First cabin’ on Delhi-London route, demonstrating that India was a priority business market.
