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A
never before opportunity for Indians to fly
New
Delhi: When KS Tilakan, a small time industrilaist
in Delhi booked an air ticket from New Delhi to Kochi
on Indian Airlines, he had to shell out Rs. 17556.
But a week later, he booked seven tickets from New
Delhi to Kochi for Rs. 24500 by Jet Airways newest
addition to their list of routes! It has never been
so cheap for Indian domestic travellers, who used
to book tickets on trains months in advance and undertake
gruelling journey, especially after the budget airlines
boom, pioneered by Decann Airlines of Bangalore. Deccan's
Rs. 500 a ticket caught the attention of Indian air
travellers to shift from train to air travel, though
not everyone could manage a ticket in Rs. 500 plus
taxes. Tilakan is more than happy to give up an in-flight
meal or a spacious leg room for a cheaper fare. He
can now leave Delhi late in the morning and reach
his home back in Kerala for his afternoon meal with
his mother. "I had no plans to go, despite the fact
that my wife was to be fetched after a major operation,
but Jets offer was irresistable and I booked for me
and my children to Kochi and back with my wife," said
Tilakan. It was Tony Fernandes' Air Asia that triggered
the budget airline phenomenon and proved wrong the
doomsayers who said the low-cost model could not work
in the region's highly regulated market. In India,
Spicejet earlier this month took to the skies with
promotional fares of 99 rupees becoming the second
low-cost carrier to begin operations in less than
a month after liquor- baron Vijay Mallya's Kingfisher
Airlines. They are in tough competition with Air Deccan,
which is offering fares of one rupee for flights booked
three months in advance, and Air-India Express, the
low-cost arm of Air India. There has been a significant
increase in both domestic and international air traffic,
which has increased by 14 per cent. Overall passenger
traffic has increased by 23.2 per cent, out of which
international was 17.9 per cent and domestic 25.9
per cent. The government's open sky policy has seen
several newer players coming into the field, despite
stiff competition from national and international
operators. At present there are seven scheduled airlines
and five more are in the wings to take off.
- May 30, 2005
Jet
Airways begins service to Malaysia (Go
To Top)
Kuala
Lumpur: Soon after the launch of its daily flights
to Singapore from Mumbai, Indian private Airline,
Jet Airways has begun its service to Malaysia with
its maiden landing in Kuala Lumpur - its second destination
outside South Asia for the expanding carrier. The
carrier became the first private Indian Airline to
fly on the Chennai-Kuala Lumpur route. Flight 9W 032
(Chennai-Kuala Lumpur) will depart from Anna International
Airport, Chennai at 11 PM and will arrive into Kuala
Lumpur's KLIA International Airport at 5.30 AM the
following morning. The return flight, 9W 031 (Kuala
Lumpur - Chennai) will leave Kuala Lumpur at 7.35
AM and arrive in Chennai at 8.50 AM, Jet Airways said
in a release here. Jet Airways will be operating a
daily flight between these two cities. Flight 9W 032
will be operated by a New Generation B737-800 aircraft
configured for international operations with 16 seats
in Club Premiere (Business Class) and 124 seats in
the Economy Class, the release added. A special Inaugural
Economy Class fare of Rs.10, 750 is being offered
on the Chennai-Kuala Lumpur route. "We expect high
passenger numbers for this route," said Peter Luethi,
Chief Operating Officer, Jet Airways. Passengers will
have an opportunity to experience "the spirit of new
India". On board will be a well-trained crew, roomier
seats, transnational food, audio-video inflight entertainment,
complemented by Indian hospitality at its best, he
added. Luethi said the airliner was interested in
flying to other cities in Malaysia, but would need
approval and landing rights from both Indian and Malaysian
Governments. Chennai-Kuala Lumpur flight is the fourth
foray of Jet Airways outside the country under the
open skies regime. It launched flights to Kathmandu
last year, and to Colombo (on March 23) and Singapore
(April 14) this year. The Airline is now set to launch
its Mumbai-London flights on May 23, 2005. A flight
to the United States via a European station is also
on the cards in the short term, said an Airline official.
Jet Airways flew eight million passengers last year
to more than 40 destinations, including Indian cities,
Colombo in Sri Lanka and Kathmandu in Nepal. It expects
a growth of 12 to 14 percent in the passengers using
its service this year.
-
May 20, 2005
Air
fare war in the Indian skies getting hotter (Go
To Top)
Mumbai:
It's really a cool time to fly with air fare war
getting hotter and hotter with each passing week.
The entry of Vijay Mallya's Kingfisher Airlines in
the sky a week ago has further intensified the ongoing
air fare war in the Indian skies. Kingfisher Airlines
is set to pamper the market with special discount
on the Mumbai-Bangalore route and the yet to be launched
Delhi-Bangalore service. It is offering discounted
tickets for these routes. Unlike other airlines, which
offer different types of discounts for different sections
of the people, Kingfisher Airlines offers a single
fare on these sectors On Mumbai-Bangalore route, it
offers more than 50 percent discount in comparison
to other full service airlines. On this route, Kingfisher's
all economy lifestyle seats will be priced at Rs 2,999
till May 30. Other full-service airlines charge nearly
Rs. 6,200 for this route. "The promotional fares will
replace the three fare buckets currently existing
on the Mumbai-Bangalore flight," said Alex Wilcox,
the Chief Executive Officer of Kingfisher. All the
three daily flights for the next two weeks (till May
30), which translate into 7,308 seats, will sport
this special fare, he added. On the proposed Delhi-Bangalore
route, its one-way ticket will cost Rs. 4,999, a 60
percent discount over the ticket prices of Indian
Airlines and Jet Airways. Indian Airlines, Jet Airways
and Air Sahara charge Rs. 12,600 for a Delhi-Bangalore
ticket. SpiceJet charges Rs. 8,000 and Air Deccan
5,500 for this route. The discounted rate will be
applicable from the day when Kingfisher starts its
service on this route on June 6. Air Deccan, has already
announced Re 1 fares which will be made available
from May end on all its 110 daily flights. Air Deccan's
Re 1 fare will be made available for 440 seats daily,
a number which will climb with addition of more planes.
Customers, who are slower on the draw, can pitch for
up to 440 seats available for Rs 500 fare daily. SpiceJet,
the third player in the low-cost space, is also offering
five to 10 seats on each of its 24 daily flights at
Rs 99 for the first 99 days of its service. SpiceJet
has an inaugural offer of Rs. 99 on the Delhi-Pune-Bangalore
route, while its highest fare is close to Rs. 8,000.
It also has 'red hot' fares, which will come for Rs
499 and Rs 799.
Meanwhile, Airport Authority of India (AAI) has reported
21.7 percent rise in the number of passengers travelling
by air in India for the fiscal 2004-05. According
to the figures released by AAI, Indian airports handled
an all time high of 59.3 million passengers in fiscal
2004-05 in comparison to 48.7 million passengers handled
in the previous year. Riding on improved air connectivity
and rising passenger numbers, places Indian airports
among the fastest growing in the world, next only
to China, where a few airports have reported higher
growth. The data is for the 126 airports managed by
the Airport Authority of India, including 11 international
airports and 89 domestic ones. Mumbai's Chhatrapati
Shivaji Airport was the top performer, handling 15.7m
passengers, an 18% growth over the year ended March
'04. Delhi airport grew faster at 23%, handling 12.8m
passengers.
-
May 20, 2005
Air
Deccan chief eyeing Gulf as a potential future market (Go
To Top)
by Naveen Kapoor
New
Delhi: Close on the heels of Air India launching
its budget airlines Air India Express to the Gulf,
the Bangalore- based Air Deccan, another of India's
key budget airlines, is looking at the Middle East,
particularly the Gulf countries, as a potential international
destination for the future. Captain Gorur Ramaswamy
Gopinath, the Chairman and Managing Director of Air
Deccan said: "For now we are focusing on the domestic
market which is so diverse, but whenever we go international,
we will be targeting the Gulf as we already have some
support base there." Gopinath's statement assumes
significance from a business potential point of view,
as Air India Express was launched on April 19 from
two cities in Kerala -- Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram
-- with much fanfare in the presence of Union Civil
Aviation Minister Praful Patel and Kerala Chief Minister
Oomen Chandy. Both of them even took the first flight
out to the Gulf and the return flights, suggesting
that civil aviation ties between India and the Middle
East are going places. Captain Gopinath said that
he was of the view that there is a big niche for low
cost carriers as India boasts of huge middle class.
"Our focus should be to ensure that at least one person
of a family is able to fly at least three to four
times a year on an average. That will be enough to
meet the competition, "Captain Gopinath said. Reflecting
on the Indian Government's recent "Open Skies" agreements
with the United States, China and Britain, and the
government giving permission to private carriers like
Sahara and Jet Airways to fly internationally, Captain
Gopinath said: " Now that the international skies
are open for private players, cost effectiveness is
significant for sustenance." Launched in 2003, Captain
Gopinath said that Air Deccan would continue with
its present policy of offering airline tickets beginning
from Rs.1, and refuted suggestions that this practice
was just a gimmick. "This is not a gimmick. People
are actually benefited. We cant give all the tickets
for one rupee. Our online booking system is very transparent,"
Captain Gopinath said. He also accepted the inevitability
of a price war in the domestic airline sector, saying
that this was a natural progression in terms of business,
and would be a win-win situation not only for airlines
like his, Spice Jet and Magic, but also for the end
consumer in terms of costs and services. 'No frill,
simply fly' has become the new formula for India's
low cost domestic carriers, all of whom are keen to
lure the middle or lower income group of passengers.
That it is serious about making its mark on the Indian
civil aviation circuit can be gleaned from the fact
that Air Deccan has begun negotiations for acquiring
15 new planes to expand its services. Last year, the
airline was in talks with two plane makers -- Avions
de Transport Regional and Canadian firm Bombardier
to buy or lease mid-sized planes over the next three
years. Air Deccan is hoping to repeat the success
of European budget airlines and to compete with India's
railways. Air Deccan hopes to expand its inter-city
routes by deploying the new planes, which will be
able to carry up to 78 people. Air Deccan, plans to
expand its fleet to 57 planes by 2009. Cost effectiveness,
therefore, is the buzzword for success in India's
booming aviation industry.
-
May 18, 2005
SpiceJet
takes off, sees profit in six months (Go
To Top)
New
Delhi: Indian budget airline SpiceJet, owned by
Royal Airways Ltd, took off with a glittering ceremony
on Tuesday, hoping to lure millions of frugal train
travellers in the country as it taps into a booming
travel market and expects to post a profit within
the first six months. SpiceJet will operate its first
commercial flight on Monday. Its three Boeing 737-800s
will be all-economy class. SpiceJet said its most
expensive fares were 55-60 percent cheaper than regular
full economy fares of competitors such as Jet Airways
Ltd. , India's largest domestic airline. SpiceJet
will also offer more than 9,000 seats for as low as
Rs.99 each for the first 99 days of operations. Royal
Airways Ltd., among the first privately-held firms
to enter the aviation sector in India, will compete
with local discount pioneer Air Deccan, besides new
entrants Air India Express from the state-owned carrier
and Kingfisher Airlines, backed by the country's largest
brewer, the UB Group.
SpiceJet
views its competition differently saying it is looking
towards trains and 'couches' -- people who stay at
home and don't travel otherwise. "We are basically
providing new air services and air fare in existing
markets. Our sector is not going after the Jet corporate
travellers or the Sahara, Jet traveller. We are going
after the real market, which is traveling on AC II
(AirConditioned train coach) and AC III today and
we going after the market which does not fly today.
There are people who have three or four days off but
cannot go home. We give them low air fare, they can
jump onto an airplane on a Tuesday night and come
back on Thursday night," said Mark Winders, chief
executive officer of Royal Airways, who had also helped
launch Canadian budget carrier CanJet Airlines. Investor
and consumer interest is strong in Asia's fourth-largest
economy, where the air travel market has remained
small due to steep fares inflated by high fuel taxes
and levies. Stiff competition triggered a price war
that has expanded the air travel market and the government's
decision to raise the foreign investment cap in aviation
to 49 percent from 40 percent last year, and promises
to improve and privatise airports have also helped.
But with the Indian air travel market expected to
grow at about 25-30 percent over the next five years
as incomes rise, the airline is confident there is
room for more players. "We feel that there is enough
space for everybody.The market is huge.There are only
one and a half crore (15 million) people flying. More
than 1.6 crore (16 million) people travel everyday
by train and I think many of them will shift to flight
if the fares are right," said Ajay Singh, Director
of SpiceJet.
Shares
in Royal have risen nearly 60 percent this year. SpiceJet
further hopes to turn an operating profit by the end
of the first half of the first year of operations,
and have a positive cash flow by the end of the first
year. Jet Airways Ltd. , the largest domestic carrier,
which recently raised 435 million dollars in an initial
public offering, has a 43 percent share of the market,
also served by state-owned Indian Airlines and privately-owned
Air Sahara. About 19 million people travelled by air
in India in the last fiscal year to March, according
to the Centre for Asia-Pacific Aviation, just a fraction
of its billion-plus population. Few flights in the
country are more than three hours long. Industry analysts
expect five million new air travellers in India every
year until 2010, and then slower double-digit growth.
The government expects the sector to grow 20 percent
annually in the next five years, with 20 billion dollars
in government and private investment.
- May 17, 2005
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