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Bmi has received approval to launch flights from Heathrow Airport to Kiev.

The airline, which is the second largest carrier based at Heathrow Airport after British Airways, will launch five return flights a week to Kiev, the capital city of Ukraine.

According to bmi, its new service will bring valuable new competition to the route and deliver “a wide range of benefits” to business and leisure passengers.

The flights, which were made possible by a new air services agreement between the governments of the UK and Ukraine, received approval at a Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) meeting to address the issue of low air capacity between the countries.

Nigel Turner, bmi group chief executive officer, said the CAA’s decision would lead to more benefits for consumers than if it had opted to provide more capacity to British Airways, the route’s incumbent carrier.

He added: “A new competitive service from bmi will not only be a boon for point-to-point travellers between Heathrow and Kiev, but will also provide a wide range of connecting services at Heathrow onto bmi domestic services as well as flights of Star Alliance partner airlines.”

Bmi will be making further announcements regarding its specific plans on how the new route will be operated.

Singapore Airlines has announced that it will be operating its services between Singapore and Paris using Airbus A380 aircraft.

From 1 June 2009, daily A380 flights will replace the current ten times weekly Boeing 777-300ER operations.

The Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 has 471 seats. Singapore Airlines currently has six of the aircraft in service, plus firm orders for 13 and options on another six. The aircraft will be introduced on the Paris route following the delivery of the seventh and eighth A380s in the first half of 2009.

The airline currently uses A380 aircraft on daily services to Sydney and Tokyo and twice daily services to London.

Bosses at Oxford Airport gearing up for flights to Jersey have been given an unexpected boost after major airline BMI announced it was dropping its flights from Heathrow to the island.

BMI Mainline blamed the ongoing credit crisis for the decision.

The airline’s low-cost subsidiary, BMI Baby, will continue to offer unchanged services to Jersey from East Midlands, Birmingham, Cardiff and Manchester airports.

But organisers of the new Oxford link hope many customers looking to holiday in Jersey will be tempted by the Kidlington flights, which have already started taking bookings.

James Dillon-Godfray, Oxford Airport’s marketing manager, said: “We are equidistant between Heathrow and Birmingham, so it would be easy for people wanting to travel to Jersey to pop to Oxford.”

Five million people live within an hour of Oxford Airport, and Mr Dillon-Godfray said that a major advantage of Oxford over major airports was passengers could check in and board the flight quickly.

He said: “If you turn up half an hour before the flight you could still travel. You don’t have to wait for two hours to check in.”

Operator CI Travel will launch the flights from July 11 and they will run every Saturday until September 12.

The aircraft will be an Air Southwest Bombardier Dash turboprop, with prices set to be about £150 return.

It will be the first frequent timetabled service from the airport since Sky Commuter tried running twice-daily air taxi flights to Cambridge two years ago.

A lack of demand saw the service, which could carry just six people on each flight, abandoned after five weeks.

Robert Mackenzie, managing director of Jersey-based CI Travel Group, welcomed the news about BMI.

He added: “That is obviously helpful, and Oxford is a lot easier for car parking and general access, which makes it a far more pleasurable experience. With many more UK holidaymakers deserting the Eurozone in favour of a holidays closer to home, we believe this exciting new route will prove to be popular with both new and existing clients in the Oxford area.”

David de Carteret, director of Jersey Tourism, said: “CI Travel Group’s initiative adds yet another route to the island.

“We look forward to working together to secure a successful first year of operation.”

Flights to Jersey were last offered from Kidlington for a short period in 1990.

The new 45-minute service will mainly be available to people booking package holidays through the website Discover Jersey and a handful of local independent travel agents yet to be announced.

New Delhi, Jan 19 (IANS) At least 30 flights were cancelled and six delayed as dense fog engulfed Delhi Monday, an official said.

An Air India flight from Muscat was diverted to Jaipur early morning as visibility at the runway here dropped to less than 100 metres, an official at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) said.

The Delhi International Airport Ltd, the company that has developed and manages the international airport in the capital, said in a statement that the visibility at the new runway was 75 metres, while it was 100 metres at the main runway at midnight.

However, visibility was normal Monday afternoon, when it improved to 2,500 metres at the new runway and 3,000 metres at the main runway.

About 920 flights have been delayed and 156 cancelled since Dec 29 here. Fifteen flights were cancelled Sunday, with 50 being delayed and 23 diverted.

The Safdarjung meteorological office said Delhi could experience a fresh spell of cold weather this week.