British carriers have joined Indian and West Asian airlines in the race for a share of the fast-growing travel market from India to the US, and are promoting London as the preferred stop-over destination for Indian passengers, a move that will compete with rival Gulf carriers who use Dubai as the stop-over.

The US Travel Association expects that nearly 1.2 million Indians will visit that country in 2016, double of 650,000 Indians who visited the US in 2010. Air travel between the two countries is serviced primarily by Air India, Jet Airways and Emirates, who together have close to 75% of the market share in India-US sector, according to industry estimates.

The battle to lure Indian passengers is being led by British Airways with the carrier announcing discounted fares for the summer season to fly and return from the US to Mumbai and Delhi via London. The return fares starting at R58,355 put them in direct competition with Gulf carriers like Emirates.

?India is one of the most significant focus markets for British Airways and has been growing much faster than many other markets,? said Christopher Fordyce, regional commercial manager ? South Asia, British Airways. ?The UK Civil Aviation Authority has seen a gradual increase in flyers from India to the UK.?

British Airways will be joined later in the year by Virgin Atlantic, owned by billionaire Richard Branson, in promoting London as the preferred hub with connections to the US. Virgin Atlantic will resume flying from Mumbai after a three-year break as more passenger traffic picks up between the two corridors. The airline also said that it will schedule its flights from Mumbai for passengers to board a plane from London in less than two hours to the US.

?India?s phenomenal growth continues to drive travel to the UK and the USA and we know our passengers are going to love the connections the new flight offers,? said Branson in a statement to announce resumption of services to Mumbai.

?The economic environment is now right, with 9% growth in the market since 2009, and we?re looking forward to coming back and serving the people of Mumbai,? he added.

?India?s international aviation market has great potential, supported by strong growth in disposable incomes that is driving outbound travel,? said Kapil Kaul, CEO ? Indian subcontinent and Middle East, for Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (Capa), a global aviation analysis, data and intelligence group.

The advantage of London as a stop-over destination is passenger comfort as it splits the travel time into half, while flying to the US via Dubai takes almost the same time as flying directly from India.

?Virgin Atlantic?s New Delhi to London and New York service grew 20% in 2011 and we are confident of repeating the same in Mumbai. The connections are some of the best compared to other airlines and people will love our new flying experience,? said Branson.

British Airways? Fordyce believes that Heathrow?s Terminal 5, gives his airline the advantage as it seeks to lure Indian passengers.

?Transfer time is notably reduced and passengers have the luxury to shop, eat, relax and work from the terminal,? he said. ?Terminal 5 also has the largest retail offering of any of the UK airports.?

But experts say tough British visa rules could be a stumbling block. ?UK?s tough visa regime makes it difficult for passengers to extend their halt and see London, which they can do in Dubai,? said PR Srinivas, senior director of consultancy firm Deloitte India. ?But ultimately, in a market like India, fares would determine the passengers? choice.?

?The UK?s visa regime is definitely a dampener,? said Kishore Jaleel, a former international affairs analyst with Emirates. ?Dubai manages to lure passengers with stop-over visas.?

Another point of concern is the lack of penetration of British carriers in India vis-?-vis their Gulf counterparts. This is despite the fact that more Indians and people of Indian origin stay in the UK than the UAE. According to 2009 estimates of the British government, 1.4 million Indians and Indian origin people stay in UK, while the Indian Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs says that 1.2 million Indians are present in the UAE.

But this is not reflected in the flight connections. Ten Indian cities have over 5,000 air seats per week to Dubai, while for the UK only two cities ?Mumbai and Delhi ? offer more than 5,000 seats per week. The wide network of Gulf carrier would be the biggest hurdle for British carriers to overcome in their battle for the international skies.

?The seat offers from Dubai to Delhi and Mumbai each exceed the seats available between India and any other global point, including London,? said Kaul of Capa. ?There are 10 Indian destinations served directly from Dubai. A similar, but less imposing network is also available from Abu Dhabi on Emirates or from Doha on Qatar. Not only is there frequency, but also a wider choice of departure times for travellers.?