Bance Air to connect India-UK

NRI Dave Bance plans to connect non-metro India to UK

BY A CORRESPONDENT
April 1, 2006

NRI Dave Bance has announced plans to launch a point-to-point scheduled airline connecting Heathrow and India by the end -2006, The Financial Express reported. UK-based Bance was in Delhi when he elaborated on his plans to launch an airline, to be called Bance Air, which would operate three daily flights to Indian non-metros, with four leased Boeing 777s. The move is targeted at the increasing visiting friends and relatives (VFR) market in the UK and India.

Mr Bance said, "We are projecting a 70% load factor on our flights and we will have only two class configuration of business and economy." He added, "A lot of British Asians often waste a lot of time trying to reach their hometowns in India. I plan to make their journey a bit less tedious by connecting direct flights to these select destinations."

Mr.Bance has secured a scheduled airline license from the British civil aviation authority. He has also received permission to fly into two destinations in India from the Indian civil aviation ministry, and awaits permission to fly into a third destination. Bance has also invested an initial amount of $40 million (minus the cost of leased aircraft).

While the majority of UK flights connect cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai and Bangalore, smaller cities like Amritsar and Ahmedabad are proving to be lucrative destinations for airlines lately. The Bance group is a 70 million pound group dealing with the manufacturing, real estate and hotel investment, IT & Telecommunications and Film & musical industry business.