‘We Want To Double Our Current Destinations By End Of 2005’

Charmaine Fernz - Mumbai

Charles Phelps-Penry

Having recently made its entrance into the Indian skies, Etihad Airways seems pleased with its initial performance. With optimistic feedback both from the industry and passengers alike, the airline is set to take on the new year. Explains Charles Phelps-Penry, area manager, - South East Asia, Etihad Airways, “With an encouraging start, we plan to capitalise on our initial growth. With our load factors at a consistent rate of 65-70 per cent, our aim for the coming year would be to attain higher loads.” Commenting further on expansion plans, we would like start a daily flight from Delhi and increase the Mumbai quota to two flights a day. More destinations are also being considered in the South such as Kochi, Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad but all of this would depend on our bilateral talks with the government.”

With factors such as the booming Indian economy, increased growth and more healthy competition, the airline has additional plans lined out. “Promotions are certainly on our list wherein we would try and get more and more people to try our airline. We would also be looking at launching joint packages with our trade partners. At the moment, we are developing our own booking engine, which would be made available as and when it is ready in India as it is definitely a potential market. We are looking forward to our new aircraft, which would come in approximately by July and would mean enhanced interiors and services available on-board. On a global note, in 2004 we acquired 16 routes in 13 months, which we plan to double by the end of 2005. Some of the destinations lined up include Johannesburg, Paris, Frankfurt, Brussels, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Manila, Toronto, Beijing, Shanghai etc. As we do not have a frequent flyer programme in place, we are seriously researching this aspect. On the interline front, apart from the existent three - Jet, Sahara and Indian Airline - we are looking at talking to Air Deccan to further enhance customer satisfaction,” added Phelps-Penry

Elucidating the airline’s tourism promotion strategies, Penry says,” On our part, we would like to promote Abu Dhabi as a tourist destination as it has a lot to offer. We want to change the current perception. On the infrastructural front, there have been huge developments such as hotels, sports, parks etc. Abu Dhabi as a destination is very green as compared to Dubai and is considered the oasis of UAE. On the accommodation front, the Emirates Palace, a seven-star hotel recently had their soft launch and is a major USP for the destination. A corniche is also being developed with a park area along the sea front. Under consideration is a new airport terminal as well as a new runway.” With all of these factors well in place, tourism along with air travel will see significant growth in the coming year.