Daily Flights, Sops Mark Austrian Airlines’ 2005 Plan

Anindita Chattopadhyay - New Delhi

Bernhard Baeck

Buoyed by the good performance and satisfactory passenger growth in 2004, Austrian Airlines has decided to continue operating daily flights out of Delhi throughout the year. On November 1, the carrier started its daily flight on the Delhi-Vienna route to cater to the increased traffic during peak inbound season. In addition, the airline will operate 16 additional flights during the January - March period under the limited open sky policy. The decision comes hot on the tail of the airline's announcement to start five-times-a-week non-stop services to Mumbai from May 1, 2005.The airline has plans to increase the frequency to daily flights out of Mumbai in the winter schedule. A third destination in south India is also a possibility subject to bilateral discussion. With the Austrian president's visit to India due in February, the aviation bilateral could be a topic of discussion.

The expansion plan, according to Bernhard Baeck, Austrian Airlines country manager - India, was encouraged by the response on the Delhi-Vienna sector with an average load factor of around 80 per cent. The airline plans to handle the challenge of excess seat capacity by launching destination packages for tourists to Austria and stopover packages for transit passengers.

Ramesh Marwah, regional manager - India, Austrian Airlines said, "We will be launching destination packages, which would include free accommodation and other value additions, while passengers buying a ticket to Canada, USA or Europe would be entitled to a stopover package free of cost." The real challenge, pointed out Marwah, is being posed by the strong Euro because the amount of Euro earned by the India office is reducing despite increase in sales due to devaluation of the rupee as against Euro. However, he believes increased capacity will stimulate two-way travel flow because Europe will see India as a value-for-money destination. "Moreover, now we can penetrate further into the corporate segment as we can synergise between Delhi and Bombay," he concluded.