BRITISH AIRWAYS will operate multiple weekly relief flights between four Indian cities and London from August 17 as per a bilateral arrangement signed with the Indian government.
The airline will operate five flights a week from Delhi and Mumbai to London Heathrow, and four weekly flights from Hyderabad and Bengaluru,.
"British Airways will be able to take all customers eligible under the guidelines issued by the ministry of home affairs nonstop to London and beyond on British Airways' current flight network," it stated.
Last month, the Indian government had formed bilateral ''air bubbles'' with some countries, including the UK, US, France and Germany, under which airlines of both the countries can operate international passenger flights.
"Following months of uncertainty caused by the global lockdown, we are delighted to be able to once again provide a direct flight between India and the UK," said Moran Birger, head of sales, Asia-Pacific and the Middle East, British Airways.
"We know many of our customers in India have been waiting to be reunited with friends and family. We look forward to welcoming them back onboard."
Jan Thompson, UK's acting high commissioner to India, said: "I am delighted to see British Airways running direct flights between our countries again. This will be welcome news to the many students, professionals and British travellers who need to return to the UK.
"We are grateful to the government of India for allowing UK carriers to re-establish the route, and look forward to seeing more flights soon."
British Airways said all cabin crew will wear PPE, and a newly introduced food service system would reduce interaction with customers, who will also have to follow mandatory safety measures such as using face coverings.
A former Hertfordshire officer resigned before his misconduct ruling
‘Former Hertfordshire police officer made racist slurs against Asians'
A FORMER Hertfordshire police officer made racist comments to colleagues on multiple occasions, a misconduct panel has found.
PC Oliver Gobey, who resigned as an officer on the morning of the misconduct hearing, directed racist comments at people of Asian descent on two separate occasions.
In the first incident, he directed a “racially motivated” comment at a police sergeant to suggest they had been recruited after 9/11 because they were Asian.
Gobey was immediately challenged by PC Wallace, an “experienced officer” who had been a tutor constable for twenty years.
In a second incident, Gobey was in a police vehicle in Hitchin town centre with three colleagues. A man of Asian descent and his friends approached the officers and spoke to Wallace. The man said he was from Birmingham and asked for recommendations on places to visit.
After the man had walked away, Gobey said: “Or you have come down here to escape the honour-based violence you have caused.”Gobey was again challenged by Wallace. Gobey denied making the racist comments, but the panel concluded on the balance of probabilities that both incidents had taken place.
The panel’s report said: “They were discriminatory comments and they were his own. They were unprovoked. No one encouraged him.”
The panel also concluded that Gobey “chose to lie” about a business interest. He repeatedly failed to submit a proper application to continue part-time work for a private ambulance service and voluntary work for St John Ambulance, but continued with the latter regardless.
He also told a supervisor his business interest application had been successful, when it had not been.
In a fourth incident, Gobey “deliberately typed in random numbers” when assigned to work in the Resource Management Unit (RMU).
His figures, which were found to be wrong, came after Gobey “gave the impression to his colleagues that the work in RMY was ‘beneath’ him”.
While working there, he was heard “swearing about the work”. He was “short-tempered and ‘snappy’.” The panel’s report said: “The compilation of the figures … were far from being a simple administrative matter.
“It was essential operational information required by senior officers to decide how scarce resources would be deployed in the coming days.”
The panel found all the allegations against Gobey to be proven on the balance of probabilities, and concluded that they amounted to “serious gross misconduct” that would have led to him being sacked without notice if he had not resigned. He has also been added to the College of Policing barred list.
(Local Democracy Reporting Service)