bmi, British Midland International, Heathrow’s second largest airline, has announced a new route to Amritsar in Northern India, starting on 13 October 2011.

Flights will operate three times weekly from London Heathrow and will be via Almaty in Kazakhstan. bmi will be the only airline to offer a direct route to Amritsar from the UK.  Economy return fares start from just £659 including taxes and are available to book now at flybmi.com.

Services will be operated on a wide-bodied Airbus A330 aircraft and will offer a full service Business Class and Economy cabin. The aircraft offers 36 Business and 196 Economy seats.

Business Class customers will benefit from a 60” seat pitch and seat recline of 50 degrees, electronic seat controls, in-seat power, a 15” personal video screen and comfortable noise cancelling headphones. Economy passengers will also benefit from 32” seat pitch with a recline of six degrees and a personal 15” seat back video screen.  A wide range of blockbuster films, TV programmes, music and games channels will be offered throughout both cabins on the in-flight entertainment system.

bmi Business Class customers and Diamond Club Gold and Silver members can take advantage of bmi’s flagship international lounge, The Great British Lounge, at London Heathrow Terminal One. Star Alliance Gold members are also offered complimentary lounge access.

Joerg Hennemann, Chief Commercial Officer, bmi, commented: “Home to the Harmandir Sahib, also referred to as the Golden Temple, Amritsar is one of the most ancient and fascinating cities of India, and is also the spiritual and cultural centre of the Sikh religion. We are delighted that our customers now have the chance to discover this vibrant city with convenient schedules and a direct service from London. This announcement builds on our network strategy to focus on international routes, whilst still providing key domestic connectivity to London Heathrow.”

bmi launched new routes to Basel, Bergen, Marrakech, Casablanca and Stavanger in April 2011. In addition the airline has recently launched a new mobile website becoming the first British airline to enable customers to book and pay for flights using their smartphones.