Emirates Contemplates India As Secondary Hub

Charmaine Fernz - Mumbai

The Indian aviation scenario looks promising than ever before. And attempting to take the tide at flood, Emirates Airlines is contemplating India as its secondary hub. In a one-day touch-and-go trip to India, Nabil Sultan, senior VP - Commonwealth and Indian Ocean Rim, Emirates, says, "I have always said that India is an important route for us. We are ready to increase our capacity and frequencies as and when we see the demand for it and whenever we get the necessary permissions. We are looking at increasing capacity on the Bangalore and Trivandrum routes. We are looking at making India a secondary hub for Emirates."

Sultan added that the airline would also look at setting up a training academy since it forms a crucial element for any airline. "The academy would be a regional one based in Mumbai and would cater to the surrounding regions and Far East. Initially, we would look at training Emirates staff and later expand to training other airline staff as well," he said adding that this had become necessary after the Indian airline industry started experiencing a lack of professional staff.

"We are also considering relocating some of our major departments to India as well as setting up exclusive lounges at the Mumbai airport. This further substantiates our intention to provide Indian passengers with the best of facilities."

Sultan revealed that the airline was ready add Hamburg (Germany) and Beijing (China) to its global network by next year.