British Airways operates special relief flights from India

Under a bilateral arrangement with the Indian government from 17 August 2020, British Airways will recommence direct relief flights from India to London Heathrow. The airline will operate five flights a week from Delhi and Mumbai to London Heathrow. Hyderabad and Bangalore will have four flights a week to London.

New Delhi: British Airways will recommence direct relief flights from India to London Heathrow under a bilateral arrangement with the Indian government from 17 August 2020.

British Airways will be able to take all customers eligible under the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs nonstop to London and beyond on British Airways’ current flight network.

The airline will operate five flights a week from Delhi and Mumbai to London Heathrow. Hyderabad and Bangalore will have four flights a week to London.

Moran Birger, Head of Sales, Asia Pacific and the Middle East at British Airways, said: “Following months of uncertainty caused by the global lockdown, we are delighted to be able to once again provide a direct flight between India and the UK. We know many of our customers in India have been waiting to be reunited with friends and family. We look forward to welcoming them back on board.”

Jan Thompson, UK’s Acting High Commissioner to India, said: “I am delighted to see British Airways running direct flights between our countries again. This will be welcome news to the many students, professionals and British travellers who need to return to the UK. We are grateful to the Government of India for allowing UK carriers to re-establish the route, and look forward to seeing more flights soon.”

In response to Covid-19, British Airways has introduced a range of measures to keep its customers safe. Prior to travel, they will receive information on changes at their airport and onboard experience and tips on how to prepare for their journey. Customers will also be asked to help manage the wellness of everyone travelling by:

• Checking-in online, downloading their boarding pass and where possible self-scanning their boarding passes at the departure gate.
• Observing social distancing and using hand sanitisers that are placed throughout airports.
• Using new contactless, automated features at our lounges, including a new online food and drink service.
• Wearing a facemask at all times and bringing enough to replace them every four hours for longer flights.
• Ensuring they have everything they need from their hand luggage before departure, and where possible, storing their carry-on bag under the seat in front of them.
• Not travelling if they think they have any symptoms of Covid-19.

Onboard, all cabin crew will wear PPE and new food service has been introduced which reduces the number of interactions required with customers. Surfaces including seats, screens, seat buckles and tray tables will be cleaned after every flight and each aircraft is completely cleaned from nose to tail every day.

The air on all British Airways flights is fully recycled once every two to three minutes through HEPA filters, which remove microscopic bacteria and virus clusters with over 99.9% efficiency, equivalent to hospital operating theatre standards.