Air India’s New York direct service yet to make a mark

Mumbai: More than two months after it started flying non-stop between Mumbai and New York, Air India’s service is still running at low load factors, a direct consequence of its relatively-expensive tickets and an advertising campaign that kicked off late, experts in the trade say.
The airline, operated by state-run National Aviation Co. of India Ltd, or Nacil, has still not managed to fill even half the capacity on the Boeing Co.-made 777-200 LR aircraft in the last 10 weeks since it started the service on 1 August. The average loads on the 238-seater plane have been around 107 seats, equivalent to 45% load factor, on the flight bound to New York, and 87 seats back (36%), said a senior Air India official, who did not want to be quoted.
The airline has set a target of 75% load factor in the first year of operation and expects to fly its plane full in the coming ‘busy season’ from mid-October through January.
Air India’s numbers lag those of its rivals. Delta Airlines, on its Mumbai-New York direct flight, has an average 70% load factor, said a company executive, who requested anonymity since he can’t be quoted by the media.
Jet Airways (India) Ltd, which launched a one-stop service to the US five days after Air India’s non-stop service, has an average load of 65%, despite a two-hour layover at Brussels.
18/10/07 Sagar Malviya and P.R. Sanjai/Livemint

To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline

Categories: Air India - International Oct 2007, Foreign Oct 2007, NACL Oct 2007, New Oct 2007