Air India and Indian the best?
This casts serious doubt on how the voting was done
Those familiar with "Indian Idol" and similar programs will understand.

AC Nielsen? Yet another PR company masquerading as an opinion maker!!

 

When will they ever learn?

http://news.moneycontrol.com/india/news/pressnews/airindiapreferredinternationalairline/airindiavotedasmostpreferredinternationalairline/market/stocks/article/228779
Air India voted as most preferred International Airline
 
 2006-07-19 20:07   Source : Moneycontrol.com
 
 Air India, India’s flagship carrier was voted as the most “preferred International Airline” in the travel and hospitality category at Awaaz Consumer Awards 2006 held on 18th July, 06, Taj Palace New Delhi.

Conceptualized by CNBC Awaaz, The Consumer Awards stresses on the importance of knowing which brands are preferred by consumers, the position enjoyed by various brands in the minds of consumers and how they go about making their choices.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr.V Thulasidas, Chairman & Managing Director Air India said “This award is a recognition of our efforts to make Air India a world-class carrier. I would like to thank all my employees for participating in our effort to achieve the goal. Our endeavour has always been to provide the best in class service for our customers and we will do our best to emulate ourselves continuously”.

The Awards are short listed on the basis of large-scale quantitative research exercise which is carried out in 21 centres across 14 states. The respondents are males and females in the age group of 20-60 years, belonging to SEC A, B and C households. Data is collected through a structured questionnaire administered face-to-face to the respondent. Consumers who are users or had experienced the category recently were interviewed for various categories to arrive at the list of “Preferred Brands” and then were asked to rate those brands on various parameters. The research ensured each of the categories under the study had a fair representation in conjunction to the penetration of the category in the market.

Sourced From : Perfect Relations Limited
 

Don't mean to be condescending, but to the average Indian, AI might be the only international carrier they're aware of (given all the clippings of AI a/c in various Hindi movies). I'm not surprised with the outcome, especially given the profile of the participants in this poll. Now conduct another one with business heads and other frequent travellers, and then we'll see a different story.

Not exactly about AI being the favourite, but guess this fits in this thread!!! And AI gets good press for once.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/breaking_news/15206920.htm
Newark sees rise in flights to India
JANET FRANKSTON
Associated Press

EDISON, N.J. - Until a few years ago, travelers from New Jersey heading to India faced a long and uncertain drive to John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens, N.Y.

That's what Sarma Ayyala calls "the old days" of travel to India, his native country.

"It was really a painful thing because it takes about 2 1/2 hours depending on the traffic," said Ayyala, 65, who moved to New Jersey in 1970.

That journey didn't even include the flight, which can take up to 18 hours. But today, he drives a shorter distance to Newark Liberty International Airport, where two airlines now offer direct flights to India.

Air service to the subcontinent from Newark has followed the dramatic growth of the Indian population in New Jersey - up 189.5 percent from 1990 to 2004 to 229,994 people, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Indians are the fastest-growing Asian group in New Jersey, said Sen-Yuan Wu, a research economist with the state's Department of Labor and Work Force Development. The largest Indian population - an estimated 77,528 - is in Middlesex County, followed by more than 28,000 each in Hudson and Bergen counties.

For those who fly regularly to India or pick up visiting relatives, the flights from Newark have opened up a new world, said Ayyala, who traveled to India three times in the last three years.

"It hardly takes half an hour," Ayyala, an engineer who lives in South Brunswick, said of the drive to Newark. "It is very easy to find someone to drop you off, too."

Air India, the government-run airline, began offering flights from Newark in 2002, and Houston-based Continental Airlines followed with nonstop service last year.

Now, more people now fly Air India from Newark than Kennedy.

The Air India flight from Newark makes a brief stop in Paris, but passengers don't get off the plane before landing in Mumbai. The flight continues to Ahmedabad in Gujarat state, the birthplace of many Indians now living in New Jersey. The nonstop Continental flight is to Delhi.

Jet Airlines, India's domestic carrier, is also in discussions with transportation and airport officials to begin its own service from Newark next year, said Susan Baer, general manager of the Newark airport.

The service to India still represents only a "very teensy" chunk of Newark's overall traffic, yet it is a growing, she said.

"India is an important business destination," Baer said. "It also serves a tourist market for people who have family in India."

Despite the increased service, the prices haven't dropped, several travelers said, including Jagadishbhai C. Patel of Edison, who was waiting for an Air India Flight Thursday night with his wife, Bharti. Their tickets cost about $1,300 apiece in the peak travel season. Travel agents blame high fuel costs.

While Air India added flights in Newark, it never decreased its flights out of Kennedy, which serves a strong market in New York City, Baer said.

Yet the number of passengers taking Air India from Kennedy has dropped by 20 percent since 2002, according to numbers from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs the airports. Last year, 204,095 people flew Air India from Kennedy, down from 253,447 in 2002.

Air India began serving the New York metropolitan market in 1960 from Kennedy, and the flight from there stops in London. The airline added the thrice-weekly Newark routes three years ago; service grew to five days per week and eventually seven.

Last year, 246,299 people took the flight from Newark, according to the Port Authority, up 45.5 percent from 2003.

Anil Mathur, Air India's regional director for the U.S. and Canada, said the airline saw the growing market across the Hudson River.

"We have a large ethnic Indian population in New Jersey," he said. "People have business interests in Gujarat and they also travel to visit friends and relatives."

The airline also has flights to India from Chicago and Los Angeles.

Air India's plans also include nonstop service next year once it receives an order of new airplanes, said Jitender Bhargava, executive director of public relations in Mumbai. The routes have yet to be determined.

Continental added nonstop flights last November after doing two years of research, said Jim Summerford, the airline's international vice president based in London.

"There's a lot of traffic, made up of ethnic Indians going back and forth," he said. "It's a huge market, without a doubt," he said.

The trend has also helped grow Meena Shah's New Jersey business, Metro Travel.

"It's like the demand went up, so the airlines kept increasing their service," said Shah, who moved 23 years ago to Edison, the New Jersey town with the largest Indian population.

When she started part-time, she booked 10 to 15 flights to India per week. Now, about 200 flights a week are booked through her two offices.

She said about 80 percent of her clients travel for leisure. A decade ago, people traveled every three to five years to India. Now some go annually or more.

"Everything has changed with two incomes," said Shah, 49, who was born in Mumbai.

Last week, Sanjeev Nagpal of Princeton waited in Newark for a Continental flight to Delhi with his wife and two daughters. This will be the third trip for 8-year-old Tanisha and the fifth for 13-year-old Sanya.

Nagpal, 38, was born in Delhi and moved to New Jersey 13 years ago. The family, who lives in Princeton, will spend five weeks visiting relatives and touring sites.

"I want to ride a camel," Tanisha said.