Air India strengthens Australia presence

Air India strengthens Australia presence
By admin


Air India has confirmed it will do “all that it takes” to get the Australian trade on board as the carrier signalled its intention to further expand its Australian operations after its 16 year absence.

The airline's first Boeing 787 service will depart Delhi on August 29, touching down at Melbourne Airport on August 30. It will operate three weekly Delhi-Melbourne-Sydney-Delhi flights and four operating to Sydney then onto Melbourne and back to Delhi.

The coming weeks will see the announcement of an Australian general sales agent and the launch of a dedicated Australian website as it ramps up its presence in the local market, with a "major" campaign to coincide with the start of services.

However, general manager Australia, Ravi Bodade, is already convinced of the route’s success.

“There has been a lot of enthusiasm in the local market,” he told Travel Today.

By clinching the Australian debut of Boeing's Dreamliner aircraft, the airline has generated considerable buzz which builds on “huge pent up demand” for the direct services.

In addition, competitive introductory economy return fares to 11 points in India have also stimulated interest, he revealed.

Bodade forecast load factors of 90% on the new service from October and was confident services to both Sydney and Melbourne will be expanded down the line.

“Now there is one flight covering both on a daily basis,” he said. “But going forward we would be looking at expanding capacity in Australia to offer separate daily services to both cities.”

However, he stressed it is “early days” and said it would take four months of operation to really gauge the service’s success.

Meanwhile, the visiting friends and relatives (VFR) market is expected to account for 60% of business on the route, with the remainder to be made up of a mix of leisure and corporate.

“We offer good connectivity to Europe over Delhi and that’s also a focus for us.”

While Qantas has coined the term the “Kangaroo Route”, and China Southern establishing the “Canton Route”, Bodade suggested that Air India could lay claim to the “Taj Route”, with side trips to visit the iconic Taj Mahal for those connecting through Delhi to become part of the airline’s offering.

Despite existing advantages, the support of the trade will be critical to ensure the carrier's local expansion, with Air India planning a number of engagement strategies.

“We are lining up famil tours to take place very soon,” Bodade said. “We will run incentive fares and have our first roadshow planned in the first week of September jointly with India Tourism. We’ll do all that it takes.”

Meanwhile, he confirmed that talks are underway regarding a potential codeshare but he stressed “it may take a while”.

In the meantime, the airline has already established interline relationships with Qantas and Air New Zealand providing connectivity from a range of ports in the region.

But, while Bodade is enthusiastic about the prospects from the Australian market, he highlighted the challenges as the “very, very high” costs of operating here.

The airline’s newcomer status means it cannot resort to hiking fares, but some increases may be a necessity down the line.

“At the same time, we want to be competitive in the market, so we will ensure we are better priced than our competitors,” he said.

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