Willie Walsh, Chief Executive of British Airways, is not afraid of conflict. Having tackled investors who have seen the airline struggle through two years of substantial losses and stared down continued industrial action from his cabin crew, he’s now set his sights on India’s civil aviation regulators.
With the ink barely dry on BA’s merger with Spain’s Iberia, the recently-announced code-share agreement with India’s Kingfisher Airlines marks the UK flagship carrier’s first tentative step into the Indian aviation market. While current rules do not permit any foreign ownership of Indian carriers, he has made it clear that reforms are needed.
“If the rules change, not just British Airways, all airlines around the world will look at the possibility to invest in Indian carriers. I have no doubt Indian carriers would welcome such foreign investment because airlines are looking at strengthening their financial position. Also, consolidation will help. We will be looking at opportunities in the future. We are sponsoring Kingfisher Airlines into Oneworld (a global grouping of airlines) because India is such an important growth market and we want to participate in this growth,” Walsh told India’s Mint newspaper in an interview.
His sentiment is clear. The code-share agreement, which begins on 15 September and will allow customers to book journeys encompassing both airlines’ networks on each other’s websites, and BA’s sponsoring of Kingfisher to join the Oneworld global airline alliance, are tentative steps in the British airline’s desired move into the Indian market.
And Kingfisher isn’t the only airline in Walsh’s targets. As the Financial Times reports, BA executives have drawn up a list of 12 carriers across the globe that they are interested in buying or merging with.
