Jet Airways, India's largest private carrier, plans to launch four new Indian routes from Dubai in the next three months, a senior executive said.
The airline launched operations to the UAE last year with daily direct flights to Abu Dhabi in April, followed by Dubai in August.
"From Dubai, we are planning to launch flights to four more Indian destinations – Hyderabad, Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram and Mangalore. Talks are in process and we should be able to launch these routes in the next two to three months," Abraham Joseph, Senior General Manager for Jet Airways Middle East and North Africa, told Emirates Business.
The Indian carrier currently operates daily non-stop flights to Delhi and Mumbai from Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Last month it included Chennai to its route network from Dubai and added one more frequency to Mumbai again from Dubai. Plans are also afoot to launch daily services from Mumbai each to Jeddah and Riyadh starting June 14 this year, Joseph said.
In order to battle the declining demand in air travel and boost traffic on the UAE-India route, the carrier has slashed its airfares by about 20 per cent this year.
The first cut for Jet Airways' airfares was in March this year when the carrier slashed fares by about 12 per cent on flights from the UAE to India. This was followed by a 10-per cent cut in fares last week on the same sector.
Asked if the airline was planning any further cuts in airfares this year, Joseph said: "Airfares are already quite low. I do not think we would be able to reduce it any further than what we already have. As with all other airlines, we also reduced fares because of the market pressures. But it is not good for airlines to keep reducing fares in the long run."
Declining market conditions also forced the carrier, which started international operations four years ago, to pull out of two of its international markets – San Francisco and Beijing – early this year. "We had to pull out of a couple of not-so-good routes in early January. We basically did right-sizing in order to cope with the worsening economic conditions," Joseph said.
Asked if the airline planned to pull out of any of its Middle East markets, he said: "On the contrary we are expanding our reach and operations in this region."
Despite the air travel business suffering from a serious slowdown globally as well as in the region, Jet Airways claims it has witnessed a good 20-25 per cent increase in its future bookings for this summer in Abu Dhabi.
"Our Dubai services have yet to complete a year, but in Abu Dhabi our future bookings for the three summer months – June, July and August – are up about 20-25 per cent this year compared to last summer," Joseph said.
He added the airline's average load factors for the Middle East rested 75 per cent for the year 2008-09. "In the UAE, however, we expect the load factors to be slightly higher – up to 80 per cent, in 2009-10," he said.
Source://business24-7.ae
Monday, May 25, 2009
Friday, May 15, 2009
Air talks add flights between RP, Singapore
THE tourism industry’s desire to have more cheap flights to Singapore, among other destinations, has been realized with the increase in airline seat entitlements between the Philippines and that city-state to 26,200 a week.
This was one result of the successful amendment of the Philippines and Singapore air services agreement (ASA) last week that Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC) president Victor Jose Luciano called “a landmark agreement,” especially for the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport in Clark, Pampanga.
The air talks held in Singapore on May 6 and 7 alloted 11,200 weekly seat entitlements between Manila and Singapore for each side—from 8,700. It also allotted 10,000 seats for each side between Clark and Subic free ports and Singapore; and 5,000 seats to Cebu and Davao cities and back.
Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) Deputy Executive Director Porvenir Porciuncula said, “We have been asking them since last year to include other points in exchange for their request that more entitlements be added between Manila and Singapore. What has been agreed upon may still be not enough to service demand of Singapore and local carriers.”
He said Philippine Airlines (PAL), Cebu Pacific and Zest Air have all expressed interest in applying for additional flights to Singapore.
PAL flies 20 times per week between the destinations while Cebu Pacific has 18 weekly flights. Zest Air has yet to launch its maiden flight to Singapore pending approval of its application.
Luciano said upon his arrival from the air talks on Friday. “The amended agreement translates to 50 flights weekly between Clark and Singapore, both for passenger and cargo. This air agreement is very good for Clark and the future.”
“Not only that, Clark was given fifth freedom rights to any point around the world, except to the United States and Canada, where air carriers can go beyond Clark to pick up passengers to other destinations in the world and they can do that at the rate of 14 flights per week,” he added.
Luciano is a member of the RP Air Panel headed by Transportation Undersecretary Doroteo Reyes. The other members are the CAB and officials from the Departments of Foreign Affairs and of Tourism, from the CIAC, and representatives of local airlines.
The panel is headed to Spain on May 19 and 20 for similar negotiations. The ASA with Brunei had been signed April, with flight entitlements for both countries increased to two carriers from the previous one, and to seven flights a week from five.
The panel also concluded in March air talks with Australia, resulting in seat entitlements of 6,000 seats from 2,500, for flights between Manila and Clark to Sydney, Brisbane and Perth.
Source:businessmirror.com
This was one result of the successful amendment of the Philippines and Singapore air services agreement (ASA) last week that Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC) president Victor Jose Luciano called “a landmark agreement,” especially for the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport in Clark, Pampanga.
The air talks held in Singapore on May 6 and 7 alloted 11,200 weekly seat entitlements between Manila and Singapore for each side—from 8,700. It also allotted 10,000 seats for each side between Clark and Subic free ports and Singapore; and 5,000 seats to Cebu and Davao cities and back.
Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) Deputy Executive Director Porvenir Porciuncula said, “We have been asking them since last year to include other points in exchange for their request that more entitlements be added between Manila and Singapore. What has been agreed upon may still be not enough to service demand of Singapore and local carriers.”
He said Philippine Airlines (PAL), Cebu Pacific and Zest Air have all expressed interest in applying for additional flights to Singapore.
PAL flies 20 times per week between the destinations while Cebu Pacific has 18 weekly flights. Zest Air has yet to launch its maiden flight to Singapore pending approval of its application.
Luciano said upon his arrival from the air talks on Friday. “The amended agreement translates to 50 flights weekly between Clark and Singapore, both for passenger and cargo. This air agreement is very good for Clark and the future.”
“Not only that, Clark was given fifth freedom rights to any point around the world, except to the United States and Canada, where air carriers can go beyond Clark to pick up passengers to other destinations in the world and they can do that at the rate of 14 flights per week,” he added.
Luciano is a member of the RP Air Panel headed by Transportation Undersecretary Doroteo Reyes. The other members are the CAB and officials from the Departments of Foreign Affairs and of Tourism, from the CIAC, and representatives of local airlines.
The panel is headed to Spain on May 19 and 20 for similar negotiations. The ASA with Brunei had been signed April, with flight entitlements for both countries increased to two carriers from the previous one, and to seven flights a week from five.
The panel also concluded in March air talks with Australia, resulting in seat entitlements of 6,000 seats from 2,500, for flights between Manila and Clark to Sydney, Brisbane and Perth.
Source:businessmirror.com
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Airline boosts Abu Dhabi flights
Air India Express was hailed for expanding its Abu Dhabi operations.
The airline launched two new routes from Abu Dhabi International Airport and increased its frequency of service to Cochin from five to six flights per week.
Air India Express has been flying from Terminal 1 at Abu Dhabi International Airport to Tiruchirapally and Chennai in southern India at 6.20pm every Thursday and Saturday. The new routes will be serviced by a Boeing 737-800 in an economy class configuration.
Air India Express connects Abu Dhabi with six destinations in India with 21 weekly flights.
Since it first started flying to the UAE capital four years ago, the airline has experienced organic growth as the high demand for airline services has led the airline to increase frequencies and include additional routes.
The two new destinations and the increased frequency to Cochin will serve the large and growing Indian community based both within Abu Dhabi and the other Emirates.
Abu Dhabi Airports Company's (ADAC) recent traffic figures also show the Indian Sub-continent continues to experience a strong increase in traffic.
In March alone, traffic to and from India increased by 32 per cent, making it the largest single travel market for Abu Dhabi.
Airline marketing and aeronautical revenue vice-president Mohammed Al Bulooki said: "ADAC is delighted to be part of the growth and success of Air India Express.
"We believe in providing high quality airport facilities and services that can form a foundation from which airlines can grow and expand.
"We are also pleased to continue to expand the breadth of choice we offer our customers. These services will help us to better serve the huge Indian expat community that reside in the UAE."
Air India Express executive director for Middle East and Africa Fali D Warden said: "With the introduction of direct air links from Abu Dhabi International Airport to Tiruchirapally in Tamil Nadu, we are confident that the new flights will be successful in attracting passengers not only from the immediate vicinity but from the nearby districts of Tanjavur, Ramnad and Madurai as well. "The sustained introduction of Air India Express services from Abu Dhabi reflects the growing importance which Air India attaches to this region."
Source://gulf-daily-news.com
The airline launched two new routes from Abu Dhabi International Airport and increased its frequency of service to Cochin from five to six flights per week.
Air India Express has been flying from Terminal 1 at Abu Dhabi International Airport to Tiruchirapally and Chennai in southern India at 6.20pm every Thursday and Saturday. The new routes will be serviced by a Boeing 737-800 in an economy class configuration.
Air India Express connects Abu Dhabi with six destinations in India with 21 weekly flights.
Since it first started flying to the UAE capital four years ago, the airline has experienced organic growth as the high demand for airline services has led the airline to increase frequencies and include additional routes.
The two new destinations and the increased frequency to Cochin will serve the large and growing Indian community based both within Abu Dhabi and the other Emirates.
Abu Dhabi Airports Company's (ADAC) recent traffic figures also show the Indian Sub-continent continues to experience a strong increase in traffic.
In March alone, traffic to and from India increased by 32 per cent, making it the largest single travel market for Abu Dhabi.
Airline marketing and aeronautical revenue vice-president Mohammed Al Bulooki said: "ADAC is delighted to be part of the growth and success of Air India Express.
"We believe in providing high quality airport facilities and services that can form a foundation from which airlines can grow and expand.
"We are also pleased to continue to expand the breadth of choice we offer our customers. These services will help us to better serve the huge Indian expat community that reside in the UAE."
Air India Express executive director for Middle East and Africa Fali D Warden said: "With the introduction of direct air links from Abu Dhabi International Airport to Tiruchirapally in Tamil Nadu, we are confident that the new flights will be successful in attracting passengers not only from the immediate vicinity but from the nearby districts of Tanjavur, Ramnad and Madurai as well. "The sustained introduction of Air India Express services from Abu Dhabi reflects the growing importance which Air India attaches to this region."
Source://gulf-daily-news.com
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