Chris Phipps, British Airways Manager for Pakistan and Afghanistan, has said that the passengers, crew and aircraft security is top most priority of the airline and all out efforts are being made for safe and secure journey of its valued customers, besides providing them all facilities on and off the board.
"We are satisfied with the security measures, Pakistani law enforcement agencies are providing and have not so far faced any problem in our operation", said Phipps while briefing the journalists about progress and performance of his airline here on Thursday.
There are negative perceptions regarding the law and order situation in Pakistan, which force people not to travel to Pakistan, he said, adding that after visiting Pakistan all these perceptions proved false as hospitality and humane attitude of people attract foreigners.
He said the British Airways is contributing a lot to Pakistan's economy in shape of purchase of fuel, edibles, jobs both direct and indirect, hiring hotels for crew and laying a network of general sales agents for ticketing.
Phipps said more than one million Pakistanis living in UK are target passengers for the British Airways and the airline is making all out efforts to provide them all possible facilities and concessions. He termed the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) a competitor, saying that BA is capable of winning this competition on the basis of its better services, cheaper prices, better aircraft and network.
To a question regarding the expansion in its operation from Pakistan, he said that lack of aircraft time and extra resources are main cause of delay in expansion. "I would love to start flights from Karachi, but lack of aircraft time is hurdle. I am sure in future we will expand", he maintained.
Phipps said that BA is operating from 154 destinations of 75 countries across the globe, with a strong fleet of 254 aircraft, including 57 Boeing 747 and 42 Boeing 777. He said that BA has placed the order for 12 A-380 Airbuses and 24 Boeing 787, dream aircraft.
We have set up a system to facilitate the passengers and they can get tickets and even boarding cards online without getting agents involved, besides get complete know-how about flight timings.
Phipps told reporters that BA will move the third and final phase of BA's remaining longhaul flights out of Terminal 4 and in Terminal 5 of the Heathrow Airport from October 22 this year. The British Airways is currently carrying out 75 percent of the operation out of Terminal 5, which has been performing well over the past few months. Earlier this month (July 4), we celebrated 100 days since the opening of Terminal 5. Almost five million passengers have travelled through the terminal and we have handled more than 38,000 flights, he added.
The British Airways currently has approximately 60 longhaul departures and 60 arrivals in Terminal 4. It has also been operating 15 longhaul departures and 15 longhaul arrivals from Terminal 5 since March 27, he added.
On June 5, an additional 15 daily departures and 15 daily arrivals transferred from Terminal 4 to 5. These flights include eight daily services to New York JFK. The other seven destinations are Abuja, Bangalore, Beijing, Cairo, Cape Town, Lagos and Phoenix.
On September 17, a further 30 daily departures and 30 daily arrival will transfer across from T-4 to T-5. The cities include Accra, Dar-es-Salaam, Lusaka, Entebbe, Luanda, Mauritius, Nairobi, Abu Dhabi, Muscat, Bahrain, Doha, Kuwait, Tel Aviv, Mumbai, Nasaau, Grand Cayman, Providenciales, Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, Baltimore, Washington, Dallas, Newark, Houston, Chicago, Philadelphia, Toronto, and Mexico City.
On October 22, the final 15 longhaul departures and 15 arrivals will move from T-4 to T-5 and the cities include Kolkata, Dhaka, New Delhi, Chennai, Shangai, Islamabad, Denver, Boston, Montreal, Calgary, Seattle, and Dubai. Once the final longhaul move takes place Terminal-5 will be handling approximately 510 flights daily including 150 longhaul and 360 shorthaul.
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