Airlines vie for greater share in Indo-Gulf skies

These days almost every airline in the Gulf wants to soar to new heights. Apart from the regular Western destinations, the airlines are now keen to expand their operations in their own region and India in particular. The Indian attraction is obvious as nearly four million non-resident Indian (NRIs) live and work in the Gulf countries.
The Qatar Airways, for example, has launched flights to Nagpur recently. The launch of twice-weekly flights between Doha and Nagpur takes the airline’s burgeoning network across India to 44 services a week. The airways had recently launched daily service to Mumbai from Doha and this has been a complete success.
Meanwhile, Bahrain’s Gulf Air which connects several Indian cities including Bangalore wants to revamp all its services, including those to India. SriLankan Airlines already caters to the major Indian cities via Colombo and there are direct services offered by several airlines such as Oman Air, Emirates, Air Arabia, Saudi Arabian Airlines, Etihad Airways, Kuwait Airways to the Indian destinations from their respective countries.
Amidst this, the entrance of Jet Airways has intensified competition. The decision of the Indian government to allow Jet Airways to fly to certain Gulf destinations is expected to induce more customer friendly environment and possible cut in the fares. It is estimated that fares on the Indo-Gulf routes would come down by 10 per cent in view of the extra capacity that would be inducted by the Jet Airways when it launches services to the Gulf from the New Year. Till now, bilateral rights for the lucrative Gulf were reserved for Air India and Indian, which have now merged into a single airline.
02/10/07 Gopal Sutar/Deccan Herald

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Categories: Foreign Oct 2007, General Aviation Oct 2007