British Airways to start online payment gateway

British Airways is set to have an online fulfillment facility for its Indian clients by year-end which is expected to both increase direct passenger sales as well as boost its BA Holidays brand in India which has so far been sold through select tour operators.

An Indian brochure for BA Holidays is also due out soon. This, the airline says, will be key to its distribution strategy which remains heavily reliant on the travel agent community. According to Sriram Narayan, its central India manager, "BA Holidays will see a considerable ramp up in the Indian market following the online fulfillment facility which will also see the number of tour operators selling BA Holidays increase.” That apart, the imminent opening of Terminal 5, which BA and its One World alliance partners have for exclusive use, is also expected to figure in the airline's advertising strategy given its seamless transfer for connecting flights at the fiercely crowded Heathrow airport. Narayan revealed that the interline feed to and from Hyderabad and Amritsar was considerably high, putting both of them firmly on the wishlist for the airline's next round of frequency additions. With 45 weekly flights already, India is BA's second largest operation after the US.

BA claims to have received good feedback on the India-specific campaign. It was the first ever TV commercial made for the Indian audience and was a part of the airline's largest media campaign in the country. "We constantly look at ways to improve our services and offer innovative services to our customers both on ground and inflight. British Airways was the first airline to introduce online boarding passes at Bangalore international airport,” said Narayan. There are other initiatives like offering 'Manage My Booking' where customers can be in total control of their travel plans by making their booking online at ba.com. The airline has also introduced 'Fast Bag Drop' counter at every airport which allows customers who have checked-in online to quickly drop their bags and proceed for security checks.

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