BA to expand in Mideast and Asia

London: British Airways is planning further expansion of its operations in the Middle East and Asia to offset slower growth in North America, which has traditionally been its mainstay.

"Our flights to North America still remain central to our operations. However, we have recently turned our focus from the North Atlantic to the Middle East and Asia as part of our strategy to branch out our portfolio of routes over the past two years," Robbie Baird, area general manager of British Airways' Asia-Pacific operations, told Gulf News.

The Middle East remains one of the fastest growing sectors in the aviation world. "Corporate business growth out of the UK into the Middle East has reached double figures," Baird said.

The carrier recently increased its Dubai-Heathrow frequency to 20 a week, with thrice daily flights six days a week. "We are pushing that this stays," Baird said. Over the past few years, there has been a significant change in the consumer profile of aviation customers. The high-end leisure segment has grown much faster, compared to the business traveller.

"People are ready to more for leisure than before. The balance between the premium to non-premium seats has improved in the last 12 months," Baird said.

As a result, the airline has increased its Club World seats on its Boeing 747 flights from 38 to 55. "This has resulted into eight to nine per cent growth," he added.

The carrier did not rule out the possibility of reviving routes to Saudi Arabia, which were stopped in 2004. "Our routes are constantly under review, so some day we might resume flights to Saudi Arabia," Baird said.

Major story

India has been a major story for British Airways. The carrier has boosted its capacity from 19 to 43 per week over the past couple of years. "Some of the additional capacity to India was fed by re-routing flights from North America," Baird said.

The airline has embarked on a growth programme. It has 24 Boeing 787s on order, scheduled to join its fleet between 2010 and 2014. These will replace the 14 Boeing 767s. There are also 12 Airbus A380s on order, expected to be delivered between 2012 and 2014.