Mittu Chandilya, CEO, AirAsia India, spoke to Bloomberg TV India on his plans for the airline in the upcoming season, especially the focus on the South.
The festival season has set in. What’s the trend you are seeing on domestic and international routes?
I think with the festive season coming up, most Indians prefer to go to domestic locations. Partly I think you will have the usual suspects in Goa. You have the usual suspects up in the North-East as well as Kochi, which is an all-time hot favourite. But I think when the festival season comes, people tend to go to some of these destination with family, and going long distances tend to be cost prohibitive or, from a time perspective, a bit longer. But that said, international travel has always been on the upward trend and I think a lot of passengers want to go international. So I think you are getting a nice mix of both. You are getting some folks who do want to go international — and it’s short distances. South-East Asia is really hot, Dubai is hot, Colombo and Sri Lanka are a good destination. Domestically, I think traffic is kind of increasing to Port Blair. Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram are hot destinations. Goa is always full.
How is the air traffic growth in South India?
I think travel in South India has been increasing. It’s traditionally been decent but it’s always been surface transport as opposed to air travel. I think you are starting to see a lot of changes out there with airports which have started to be revamped to ensure that some of the larger airlines can come in.
03/10/15 Sunanda Jayaseelan/Business Line
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The festival season has set in. What’s the trend you are seeing on domestic and international routes?
I think with the festive season coming up, most Indians prefer to go to domestic locations. Partly I think you will have the usual suspects in Goa. You have the usual suspects up in the North-East as well as Kochi, which is an all-time hot favourite. But I think when the festival season comes, people tend to go to some of these destination with family, and going long distances tend to be cost prohibitive or, from a time perspective, a bit longer. But that said, international travel has always been on the upward trend and I think a lot of passengers want to go international. So I think you are getting a nice mix of both. You are getting some folks who do want to go international — and it’s short distances. South-East Asia is really hot, Dubai is hot, Colombo and Sri Lanka are a good destination. Domestically, I think traffic is kind of increasing to Port Blair. Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram are hot destinations. Goa is always full.
How is the air traffic growth in South India?
I think travel in South India has been increasing. It’s traditionally been decent but it’s always been surface transport as opposed to air travel. I think you are starting to see a lot of changes out there with airports which have started to be revamped to ensure that some of the larger airlines can come in.
03/10/15 Sunanda Jayaseelan/Business Line
