Air Sahara Embarks On A Growth Path

Jyoti Koul - New Delhi

Air Sahara has taken the lead, following the recent directive by the government allowing private airlines to fly to Sri Lanka, in starting operations to Colombo. The first flight took off on November 14 between Colombo and New Delhi. A 168 seater Boeing 737-800 aircraft is servicing the sector. The airline intends to operate daily flights to and from Colombo to Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai , Kolkata, Hyderabad and Goa but is still awaiting the final nod from the government.

Significantly, if the Indian civil aviation industry has shown a 13 per cent growth from August 2002, Air Sahara has grown by over 300 per cent during this period. During the first eight months from January to August this year, there has been a double-digit growth. Although the growth has largely been in the already high-density routes, Sahara wants to gain from the opportunity. It has charted out a five-year strategy to grow as per the 'internally' set growth targets.

"As part of our strategy, we will now be focussing on long term planning. We are moving from three to five year planning which will include fleet upgradation, induction of new aircraft, besides focusing on augmenting traffic and financial growth. We plan to add eight more aircraft to our fleet by the end of this financial year. Since the industry is looking up and keeping the huge growth in air passenger traffic (in the next few years) in mind, the country will need 100 more aircraft to meet market needs. Air Sahara is gearing up to take its share in the emerging market," said Uttam Kumar Bose, chief executive officer, Air Sahara.

The airline has acquired three new aircraft that comprises of two Boeing 737s and one Canadian Regional Jet leading to a 30 per cent capacity increase for the airline. The airline will be able to carry around 3,000 more passengers from September 2003 as it will operate 103 flights per day and provide over 260 connections. "We want to focus on new markets that are not being served adequately, Therefore, seventy per cent of the new seats will be created between destinations in South India," added Bose.

To further enhance its service standards, Air Sahara recently launched a co-branded gold card with Standard Chartered bank. The Air Sahara Standard Chartered Gold card has been launched to incentivise its customers. The first gold card was presented to Cricket Icon and council director, Sahara India Parivar and Standard Chartered Bank's brand ambassador - Kapil Dev. A unique feature is that the card offers free travel for a companion on the purchase of a one way or return ticket on the same sector.