Private Indian airline Kingfisher is to start serving London from Bangalore next month.

The carrier is to run daily Airbus A330 flights to Heathrow from September 3.

Kingfisher claims to be one of only a handful of five-star airlines, offering live TV channels, food from renowned restaurant Chutney Mary and email access.

First class passengers will have access to a bar and be offered in-seat massages.

The two class configuration will see 30 seats in first class and 187 in Kingfisher class.

Airline chairman and CEO Dr Vijay Mallya said: "At a time when many airlines are rolling back on their network, I feel that the carefully selected routes that Kingfisher will serve have great growth potential.

"International traffic demand in and out of India remains robust and the unique ties between Britan and India generate attractive additional opportunities.

"I believe that the Bangalore-London route is under served and the launch of Kingfisher's daily non stop service will exploit the latent potential that exists."

by Phil Davies