IndiGo enters into codeshare partnership with British Airways, to soon have at least three new flights to London

Budget carrier IndiGo on Thursday announced a codeshare partnership with British Airways.

Under this partnership, British Airways will add its code onto a couple of destinations across IndiGo's network and customers can enjoy improved connectivity between India and the United Kingdom for travel, the airline said in a release.

Codeshare flights will be available for booking from Thursday for travel from October 12, subject to government approval.

British Airways operates with 56 flights a week to five Indian cities -- Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, and Hyderabad.

With this codeshare partnership with IndiGo, British Airways will now be able to add three additional routes
to their existing network:
• Amritsar to London Heathrow via New Delhi
• Kochi to London Heathrow via Mumbai
• Ahmedabad to London Heathrow via Mumbai
• Goa to London Heathrow via Mumbai
• Thiruvananthapuram to London Heathrow via Mumbai (NEW)
• Kolkata to London Heathrow via Mumbai
• Rajkot to London Heathrow via Mumbai (NEW)
• Vadodara to London Heathrow via Mumbai (NEW)

The agreement means that customers traveling, for example from Rajkot to London, or transiting through London Heathrow (or vice versa) will be able to connect to their destination on a single ticket.

''We announce our codeshare agreement with British Airways. This partnership expands the choices available to British Airways customers for journeys to/from London Heathrow, using IndiGo's extensive network in India,'' Abhijit Dasgupta, senior vice president for network planning and revenue management at IndiGo, said.

Codesharing allows an airline to book its passengers on its partner carriers and provide seamless travel to destinations where it has no presence.

Neil Chernoff, Director of Network and Alliances, British Airways, said: “British Airways has been flying to India since 1924, making it one of our longest-served and most valued destinations. Our partnership with IndiGo means that customers will be able to book their entire journey on one ticket, allowing seamless travel all the way from London to their final destination, offering more choice and flexibility for customers.”

IndiGo already has codeshare partnerships with Turkish Airlines, Qatar Airways, American Airlines, Air France-KLM, Australian carrier Qantas and Virgin Atlantic. IndiGo also has an interline pact with Jetstar.

An interline arrangement refers to a pact to issue and accept tickets for flights that are operated by the partner airline.