Britain's Virgin Atlantic announced plans Monday to fly daily from London to both New Delhi and Mumbai following an agreement between India and Britain to allow more flights from next year.
Virgin Atlantic currently operates three flights a week between London and New Delhi through an agreement with state-run Air India which was due to lapse next year. It does not fly to Bombay.
However, India and Britain agreed last week to more than double the number of flights between the two countries from 19 to 40 starting in 2005.
"We have always dreamt of operating more frequent services to Delhi and to launch new services to Bombay and this agreement will enable us to turn this into a reality," Virgin Atlantic chairman Richard Branson said in a statement issued here.
He said Virgin Atlantic also wanted to fly to other cities in India but did not specify the timeframe.
Virgin Atlantic's arch-rival British Airways currently runs all British carriers' flights allowed for India. The route is lucrative owing in part to the South Asian diaspora in former colonial ruler Britain.
"The demand for more flights is clear. Half of the people flying from London to Delhi and Bombay each year are forced to do so via third countries," Branson said.
Britain has long pushed for additional flights to India but New Delhi in the past held out seeking better and more airport slots for Air India at London's Heathrow airport.