{"id":4246,"date":"2009-10-26T15:22:22","date_gmt":"2009-10-26T15:22:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tat.reddaisytrading.co.uk\/index.php\/2009\/10\/26\/city-starts-petition-for-direct-flights-to-india\/"},"modified":"2016-01-07T11:49:00","modified_gmt":"2016-01-07T11:49:00","slug":"city-starts-petition-for-direct-flights-to-india","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/2009\/10\/26\/city-starts-petition-for-direct-flights-to-india\/","title":{"rendered":"City starts petition for direct flights to India"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Birmingham City Council backs return of direct flights<\/h3>\n
THE Leader of Birmingham City Council, Cllr Mike Whitby, Internationally famed musician Apache Indian, and other leading figures from within the Indian community, have today thrown their backing behind a petition, to lobby for direct non-stop flights between Birmingham and the Punjab.<\/strong> <\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Cllr Whitby was approached by leading figures in the Indian community to ensure that the petition receives significant attention from the highest levels of the Indian Government. <\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Cllr Whitby hopes to lead a delegation from Birmingham to India early next year and to hand the petition to India\u2019s Civil Aviation Minister.

\nThe petition calls for a direct flight between Birmingham International airport and Punjab\u2019s leading airport of Amristar to be restored due to overwhelming demand of among the Midlands Indian community, estimated at nearly 500,000 in the airports catchment area.

\nDirect flights between the two cities were historically in place, operated by Air India, and proved very popular. <\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

However they were cancelled in October 2008, not because of a lack of demand, but because the airline took a decision to prioritise filling empty slots at Heathrow.

\nArchaic \u2018Bilateral Agreements\u2019 between the Indian and UK Governments restrict who can operate flights between the two countries, and without agreement of the Indian Government, the Air India monopoly between the Punjab and Birmingham cannot be broken \u2013 even if Air India chooses not to operate it.

\nCllr Whitby said the petition would send a \u201cpowerful message\u201d to the Indian government to re-instate direct flights from Birmingham to the Punjab.\u00a0<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cWith those of Indian origin in the West Midlands running to hundreds of thousands, and many more in the Airport\u2019s wider catchment area, there is little doubt that there is a huge demand for flights to be re-instated from Birmingham to the Punjab,\u201d he said.\u00a0

\n\u201dThe potential economical, social and cultural benefits to be reaped if these flights were in place would be significant and would be a real demonstration of the natural links that exist between Birmingham, the Midlands and north India. <\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we need now is for the Indian community, and indeed everyone, to get behind this petition and sign it to ensure we send a powerful message to those that can re-start direct flights\u201d. <\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Birmingham singer Apache Indian also threw his support behind the petition. <\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cI personally was always worried when my parents when to the Punjab because they would have to travel for so long before they reached their destination. \u201cAdding the nightmare of a Motorway journey to Heathrow is added inconvenience and takes us back years. I am pleased as a native Brummie to be a part of this and that the Leader of Birmingham City Council, Mike Whitby, is backing this and supporting the Indian community.\u201d<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Birmingham Airport has in the past supported calls for flights to return to the city. <\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Its CEO, Paul Kehoe, said it was a \u201cno-brainer\u201d to have direct flights from the city. <\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know that the demand is there for direct flights to Amritsar, to Delhi and \u2013 with a runway extension \u2013 other key Cities in India,\u201d he said. <\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is such a large population of Indian extraction in the Midlands that it really is a \u2018no-brainer\u2019 to have direct services from the UK\u2019s Second City.

\n\u201dThe people of the region deserve better than a gruelling journey to Heathrow, and Birmingham Airport will welcome any operator which is able to reinstate this vital link\u201d <\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

You can sign the petition at www.epetition.birmingham.public-i.tv<\/strong><\/a> <\/div>\n

\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Birmingham City Council backs return of direct flights THE Leader of Birmingham City Council, Cllr Mike Whitby, Internationally famed musician Apache Indian, and other leading figures from within the Indian community, have today thrown their backing behind a petition, to lobby for direct non-stop flights between Birmingham and the Punjab. Cllr Whitby was approached […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11753,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4246","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4246","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4246"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4246\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4246"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4246"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4246"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}