But BA Chief Executive Willie Walsh said in a statement issued during the company's annual general meeting that business growth was not confined to short-haul destinations, with services to India in particular more than doubling in the last 12 months from 19 flights per week to 42.

"Apart from the United States, India is now our largest overseas market," Walsh said.

http://http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=businessNews&storyID=2006-07-18T110139Z_01_WLA0695_RTRUKOC_0_UK-AIRLINES-BA.xml

This article is once again proof of the potential of Indian aviation market, BA has been aware of this for a long. Infact one of its ex-India managers has used this information brilliantly to his advantage helping create a rival to BA, Maurice Flanagan the MD of EMIRATES is a ex-BA India Manager, his views on the potential of indian market can be read in Airline Business Aug-2005. By concentrating on the gulf sector they are missing the threat from the european majors BA, LH, AF. Its high time AI started concentrating on the European and US sectors, now that they have the fleet, present and on order, more point-point routes should be created bypassing the hubs.