Sydney Airport eyes direct Mumbai link

Sydney Airport eyes direct Mumbai link
By admin


Establishing a direct airline link between Sydney and Mumbai is next on the agenda for tourism officials, as they prepare for the start of Air India’s non-stop Delhi link at the end of the month.

Executive director of aviation services at Sydney Airport, Shelley Roberts, told the Australian Business Events Expo (ABEE) in Sydney that a direct air link with India has been within its sights for “years and years and years” due to the immense potential of the market.

The confirmation of the new Air India service from Delhi was the result of considerable combined efforts.

“What it took to crystallise that was four airports and four tourism bodies to actually land that opportunity,” she said.

Now, the same partnership is faced with the task of growing awareness of the new route among both consumers and the trade in order to ensure its success.

Meanwhile, with that initial link is about to start, the collaborative partnership is also turning its attention to the next potential Indian non-stop connection.

“Mumbai is another catchment in India where there is a fantastic opportunity so that’s next in our sights,” Roberts said. “We’re working closely with Tourism Australia and Destination NSW to see who the carriers might be who could serve that market and then talk to them about the opportunity.”

Although she did not mention if Air India is considering the new route, earlier this month the airline’s general manager Australia Ravi Bodade told Travel Today it will focus on bedding down its link from Delhi to Sydney and Melbourne before it contemplates adding direct services to additional cities.

“It’s a little premature to talk about additional Indian ports – that would be a long way down the line,” he said.

However he stressed the airline’s offer of onward connections to 10 additional Indian ports at no extra cost.

Meanwhile, Tourism Australia managing director Andrew McEvoy, also speaking at ABEE, highlighted the “real opportunity” offered by Indonesia, particularly referring to the growing strength of Indonesia carrier Garuda.

“It has really, really improved itself in recent years,” he said. “Australia is a large part of its expansion.”

Lion Air, a lesser known Indonesian carrier that is growing at a rate of 21% per annum, is also one to watch, he added, with its plans to add wide-bodied aircraft to the fleet of its Batik Airlines subsidiary making it capable of “flying the distance” required to reach Australia.

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