When Air India was privatised by the Tatas, everyone expected that care, convenience and comfort would be their top priority.
Tata also took it up as a challenge as Air India lost millions of pounds and it has not been an easy task to recover the losses and sustain them.
The new Chief Executive Officer Campbell Wilson was appointed with several expectations and readers felt confident after learning about his ambition, in an interview published in Financial Times dated 27 March 2023.
He said he was aiming to triple passenger numbers and eventually beat the Gulf and UAE airport hubs. But at the same time, his sudden operational move of the direct flights to Ahmedabad from London Heathrow Airport to Gatwick has stumped everyone. On what basis were the changes made? Was there a survey? Was the diaspora or business community consulted?
As a responsible newspaper for the community, we have done a detailed study with Travel Agents and discussed the pros and cons of this operational change to Gatwick Airport.
While travel agents want to remain anonymous and not cause any upset to the airline carrier, it has been obvious from the consultation that understanding London’s demography is very important here.
London Gatwick Airport is in the south, near Brighton, and most of the passengers travelling to Ahmedabad live in West, North West or Greater London. To all of them, London Heathrow Airport is much closer, familiar and more convenient. While London Gatwick is wonderful in its own way, it costs the community, which is mostly settled near Heathrow, a lot of extra commuting time and money to reach Gatwick, especially during this cost of living crisis. People with small children, the elderly and pregnant women with restrictive movements, find it tremendously strenuous to reach an airport that is more than 50 miles away as opposed to one which has been within 16 miles of home. The business community and professionals who can hop on to the new and sleek Elizabeth line to Heathrow from central London now have to depend on taxis through heavy traffic, ulez or the national rail with several changes to reach the airport.
During the London-Ahmedabad direct flight initiative, there were community leaders such as CB Patel, and Manoj Ladwa, who worked tirelessly for the success of their mission. It included several trips to India, meetings with MPs and visits to the PMO. Members of the UK’s Parliament and the National Council of Gujarati Organisation (NCGO-UK) also came forward and rallied to support the initiative. During his 2015 speech at Wembley Stadium, the then newly elected Indian Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi enthralled the 60,000 audiences with his promise to restart the direct flight to Ahmedabad to serve his beloved “Living Bridge”. It has indeed come a long way since then!
The direct flight from Heathrow was never about money making, though the passenger footfall and revenue have been over and beyond any expectation. It has always been about ease of travellers, promoting business links between the two great nations and strengthening and bettering the ties with the living bridge.
Hence, we urge the CEO Mr Wilson to reconsider his decision, especially in light of the history and efforts of those who worked so hard to make the London Heathrow - Ahmedabad direct flights a possibility and a success, thereafter.
