AMERICAN Airlines (AA) and British Airways (BA) have embarked on a codeshare arrangement on BA flights from London to five Indian cities.
Effective March 29, AA will codeshare on BA flights from London (Heathrow) to New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad, complementing its existing services to India through codeshare flights with Jet Airways via Brussels.
The new codeshare agreement is a win-win for both carriers. BA customers will gain access to more flexible transatlantic routes, while AA will be able to leverage on BA’s 40 per cent market share on London-India connections.
“India remains one of our most important longhaul destinations and this codeshare service with American Airlines will serve as the perfect complement to our existing European routes, providing customer access to the US, Canada & Mexico,” said Christopher Fordyce, BA regional commercial manager – South Asia.
Ashwini Gupta, managing partner, Dove Travels Amritsar said: “This (arrangement) will enhance transatlantic flight options to Canada, Dallas, Chicago, Los Angeles and Miami – all frequent and popular destinations for Indian outbound travellers.”
The partnership comes on the heels of an agreement signed last December between AA and OpenSkies (a premium subsidiary of BA) to codeshare on flights between New York (Newark) and Paris (Orly).
