Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

India adds more flights to UK after outrage over exorbitant fares

India adds more flights to UK after outrage over exorbitant fares

THERE will be more flights between India and the UK from today (16) as India's Ministry of Civil Aviation has increased the frequency from 30 to 60 per week.

Passengers travelling between Delhi and London may expect to pay pre-pandemic fares in the coming weeks after Eastern Eye reported last week of inflated one-way prices following a peak in demand.


Of the 30 additional flights, 26 will be operated by Air India, and the remaining four will be operated by Vistara, Times Travel said on Friday (13).

The decision comes days after outrage over exorbitant airfares from major Indian cities to the UK, with Delhi-London fares at more than treble the normal price. 

Reports of the fare hike made headlines after an official at India’s home ministry, Sanjeev Gupta, last Saturday (7) posted on social media that an economy-class one-way ticket on British Airways’ Delhi-London flight for August 26 was touching almost £4,000.

However, India’s Ministry of Civil Aviation denied the official’s claims, insisting instead that the fare during August ranged between £980 and £1,360, which was still more than double that of pre-pandemic fares.

Passengers travelling from India to the UK have been asked to check fares on airline websites after it emerged that a one-way ticket to London in economy ranged between £980 and £1,360 as compared to  £500 and £780 in normal times.

Vistara, one of the four carriers between India and the UK, told Eastern Eye at the time that there were only 15 flights a week allowed currently on the India-UK route for Indian carriers and “when there is relaxation and more capacity allowed, it will automatically bring down prices”.

Inflated prices were also attributed to the “pent-up demand” as the UK moved India to the amber list from the red list, as passengers who booked their tickets on the lowest-costing economy seats got seats on almost all regular flights from India to the UK.

Scheduled flights have been banned since the outbreak of the pandemic last year, but some international flights have been operating under the air bubble arrangement. India currently has an air bubble arrangement with 28 countries. This will continue until regular flights resume.

More For You

Trump

Trump said the suspect had been arrested earlier for 'terrible crimes,' including child sex abuse, grand theft auto and false imprisonment, but was released under the Biden administration because Cuba refused to take him back.

Getty Images

Trump says accused in Dallas motel beheading will face first-degree murder charge

US PRESIDENT Donald Trump has described Chandra Mouli “Bob” Nagamallaiah, the Indian-origin motel manager killed in Dallas, as a “well-respected person” and said the accused will face a first-degree murder charge.

Nagamallaiah, 50, was killed last week at the Downtown Suites motel by co-worker Yordanis Cobos-Martinez, a 37-year-old undocumented Cuban immigrant with a criminal history.

Keep ReadingShow less
Starmer Mandelson

Starmer talks with Mandelson during a welcome reception at the ambassador's residence on February 26, 2025 in Washington, DC.

Getty

Starmer under pressure from party MPs after Mandelson dismissal

PRIME MINISTER Keir Starmer is facing questions within the Labour party after the sacking of US ambassador Peter Mandelson.

Mandelson was removed last week after Bloomberg published emails showing messages of support he sent following Jeffrey Epstein’s conviction for sex offences. The dismissal comes just ahead of US president Donald Trump’s state visit.

Keep ReadingShow less
Nepal’s new leader pledges to act on Gen Z calls to end corruption

Officials greet newly-elected Prime Minister of Nepal's interim government Sushila Karki (R) as she arrives at the prime minister's office in Kathmandu on September 14, 2025. (Photo by PRABIN RANABHAT/AFP via Getty Images)

Nepal’s new leader pledges to act on Gen Z calls to end corruption

NEPAL’s new interim prime minister Sushila Karki on Sunday (14) pledged to act on protesters’ calls to end corruption and restore trust in government, as the country struggles with the aftermath of its worst political unrest in decades.

“We have to work according to the thinking of the Gen Z generation,” Karki said in her first address to the nation since taking office on Friday (12). “What this group is demanding is the end of corruption, good governance and economic equality. We will not stay here more than six months in any situation. We will complete our responsibilities and hand over to the next parliament and ministers.”

Keep ReadingShow less
UK secures £1.25bn US investment ahead of Trump’s visit

US president Donald Trump and UK prime minister Sir Keir Starmer arrive at Trump International Golf Links on July 28, 2025 in Balmedie, Scotland. (Photo by Jane Barlow-WPA Pool/Getty Images)

UK secures £1.25bn US investment ahead of Trump’s visit

THE British government has announced over £1.25 billion ($1.69bn) in fresh investment from major US financial firms, including PayPal, Bank of America, Citigroup and S&P Global, ahead of a state visit by president Donald Trump.

The investment is expected to create 1,800 jobs across London, Edinburgh, Belfast and Manchester, and deepen transatlantic financial ties, the Department for Business and Trade said.

Keep ReadingShow less
Nearly 150,000 join anti-migrant protest in London as clashes erupt

Protesters wave Union Jack and St George's England flags during the "Unite The Kingdom" rally on Westminster Bridge by the Houses of Parliament on September 13, 2025 in London, England. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

Nearly 150,000 join anti-migrant protest in London as clashes erupt

MORE THAN 100,000 protesters marched through central London on Saturday (13), carrying flags of England and Britain and scuffling with police in one of the UK's biggest right-wing demonstrations of modern times.

London's Metropolitan Police said the "Unite the Kingdom" march, organised by anti-immigrant activist Tommy Robinson, was attended by nearly 150,000 people, who were kept apart from a "Stand Up to Racism" counter-protest attended by around 5,000.

Keep ReadingShow less