Int’l carriers find India operations profitable

Mumbai: At a time when air-carriers across the globe are cutting down on unprofitable routes, airlines like SriLankan Airlines, Gulf-based carriers like Emirates and Etihad Airways amongst others are upbeat about getting access to newer Markets in India.
Senaka Fernando, regional manager, Indian sub-continent and Maldives, SriLankan Airlines, told FE, “The upcoming India-Sri Lanka cricket series in July-August will attract thousands of Indian tourists to Sri Lanka. In lieu of high fuel prices, we are mitigating our operating costs, but Indian destinations have a huge potential in terms of passenger volumes and hence, we cannot ignore India as a destination.”
Orhan Abbas, vice-president of India and Nepal, Emirates, adds, “Though fuel costs are high, we as airlines have to face the situation and deal with it accordingly. The Indian market is a huge pie, so we shall be introducing 18 additional flights which takes the strength to 132 flights every week to and fro India.”
Similarly, Etihad Airways has recently signed a codeshare agreement with Jet Airways to have greater access to fliers across India. The codeshare agreement which comes into effect from July 1, between Abu Dhabi and the Indian cities of Delhi and Mumbai will provide additional connection opportunities from key destination, including Damascus, Beirut and Jeddah in the Middle East as well as Geneva, Munich etc.
18/06/08 Shaheen Mansuri/Financial Express

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Categories: Foreign Jun 2008