Airline moves services to capital

An airline has announced it is transferring its services from Birmingham to Heathrow.

Air India transports passengers from Birmingham to Amritsar, Delhi and Toronto but has announced its operations will be moved.

The move has been announced as a temporary measure until summer 2009.

The airport has said it is disappointed at the decision. The airline carried 100,000 passengers through Birmingham last year.

Birmingham airport spokesman Peter Vella said Air India wanted to operate more direct flights from India to the USA and as a result was reducing its flights from Heathrow.

"The airline will risk losing its Heathrow slots if it doesn't operate at least 80% of its allocated movements and, given their value, it needs to secure them.

"As a result, Air India will temporarily move its Birmingham flights to Heathrow until the summer 2009."