Air-India Express may skip Doha
June 7, 2006

Doha • Budget carrier Air-India Express might be forced to skip Doha in its winter schedule that goes into force in October as its parent company Air-India reconfigures aircraft for more lucrative operations. Air-India is poised for a major expansion, of the kind never before witnessed in the country's aviation history, V Thulasidas, Chairman and Managing Director, disclosed yesterday.

In an interview to the media, Thulasidas, who was briefly in Doha, said that Air-India was reconfiguring some of its Boeing 737 aircraft into two classes for operations on lucrative routes, where a demand for premium class seats exists. This will result in a shortage of aircraft configured for all-Economy class operations, used by Air India Express, forcing the budget carrier to defer operations to certain destinations. The CMD did not specify whether Doha would be skipped in the winter schedule but said, he cannot offer exact dates from which Air-India Express would fly between cities in Kerala and the Qatari capital. "Doha is firmly on our plans but I cannot say precisely, when operations will start," he added.

Air-India Express, he said, will also serve several new routes in India such as Amritsar, Mangalore and Trichy, among others, from GCC points. The budget carrier will however not fly to Mumbai and New Delhi since a demand for premium class seats on those sectors from the GCC region is very high, he said. The GCC region is Air-India's second most lucrative operation after the US. The budget carrier, he said, witnesses 90 per cent loads from the GCC while Air-India recorded only about 70 per cent passenger loads. .

The CMD said Air India is poised to witness growth unprecedented in India's aviation history when it starts taking deliveries of the 68 new aircraft ordered from Boeing beginning February 2007. This order includes 23 Boeing 777s, including the Long Range (LR) version, 27 Boeing 787 Dreamliners and 18 Boeing 737-800s. The Boeing 777-LR will allow Air-India to operate the Mumbai-New York sector with a non-stop 14-hour flight. The Dreamliners will be operated on medium to long haul sectors and offer passengers more comfort such as lesser jetlag due to its improved humidity control system, he added. The CMD said this expansion was required since India's GDP was growing at some eight per cent per annum which results in growth in aviation of about 2.5 per cent per annum.

Thulasidas hedged questions about the airline's privatisation and the imminent competition it would face in future from India's private carriers waiting to make forays into the lucrative GCC market. These, he said, were for the Indian government to address.

Air-India has witnessed a 33 per cent rise, of rupees 10,000m in fuel bills over the last year with crude prices remaining very high. This has caused a 33 per cent rise in operational costs, he said.

Air-India, he said, was confident of meeting competition posed by private Indian airlines on any international sector since the flag carrier offers unparalleled services to passengers, through well experienced staff including cabin crew. When pointed out that Air-India's cabin crew were aged and rude to passengers, the CMD quipped, several European carriers have older staff. Passengers treated badly by any Air-India cabin crew , he emphasised, have to complain to the airline and such errant staff will be grounded as a disciplinary measure.