Dialogue

‘India's booming airline industry needs consolidation’

Virgin Atlantic Airways, UK's second largest long haul airline, has big plans for the UK bound Indian traveller. Steena Joy spoke to Neha Lidder Ganju, marketing manager, India, Virgin Atlantic Airways, of the airline's plans for the sector and its new advertising campaign.

Neha Lidder Ganju Marketing Manager, India Virgin Atlantic Airways

Do you think India has the potential to be become a regional hub for aviation in the Asia-Pacific region?

According to the International Civil Aviation Organisation, global air passenger traffic is set to grow at 4.4 per cent for the coming five years. The aviation sector is booming in India. This is likely to fuel unprecedented growth in travel and tourism. We are very optimistic as India has moved from seventh position to the fourth most popular long-haul destination after the US, Canada and the United Arab Emirates.

India's aviation sector is probably the fastest growing in Asia and the India - UK sector is doing really well.

Since 2004, the number of passengers has grown from one million to just over two million for the 12 months up to July 2006 according to the study carried by Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), Britain's specialist aviation regulator.

Since your launch here in 2004, how has the Indian aviation scene changed?

With the liberalisation of the constraints governing the UK and Indian air services in 2004 and mid-2005, consumers have been the biggest beneficiaries as the number of choice of services , destinations and airlines between the two countries has increased.

With the increase in capacity and competition there has been a significant reduction in fares, particularly in leisure segments for travel between the UK and India.

Over the last two years, the number of direct services between India and the UK has more than tripled from 34 to 112 services a week, due to pre-existing carriers offering more flights and the arrival of new carriers in the market. This growth in both the frequency and capacity of direct UK - India services is likely to have a positive effect on the development of business between the two countries.

And today, we are flying daily on Delhi - London and Mumbai - London sectors.

What impact will competition have, especially since Indian domestic carriers are now allowed to fly to foreign destinations?

Increased competition would tend to reduce profits to the owners but it provides choices and options to the passengers. Also, airports benefit from the increase in services in the form of more revenues from landing charges or consumers' expenditure at the airport.

Do you see consolidation as inevitable in this industry?

India's booming airline industry needs consolidation. It will help the industry improve passenger yields and sagging bottom lines. It is a very positive development and will improve overall profitability. It is important for the industry to have strong players. In a market where demand is growing, mergers can bring a lot of synergies. It is better to have few large airlines to compete among themselves, than be in a fragmented market with several weak players. Airline companies can successfully weather the pressures of global competition in many sectors and can thus reap the benefit of superior returns on their investments.

What do you hope to achieve with the new advertising campaign?

The campaign aims to create more awareness about Upper Class and drive in excitement for the Virgin Atlantic experience. It has been created to highlight the features on board and is aligned with the features available on ground such as the Upper Class Suite - the largest and the widest flat bed in the sky, the onboard bar, chauffeur pick-up and drop, pre-departure drink, in-flight massage, in-flight entertainment, as well as the use of the Clubhouse at Heathrow. The campaign will surely attract many new travellers.

Virgin Atlantic's ads have been known to be 'cheeky'. Does the new campaign live up to this reputation?

Yes, that's what defines the brand 'Virgin'. People expect Virgin Atlantic to be 'cheeky' in everything it does. And when this campaign was being shaped up, it was one of the filters it had to pass through. If you read the lines of the new campaign, you'll see it for yourself.

When an ad is being conceived for the Indian market, what considerations are taken into account?

Most brands assume that Hindi is the common denominator for the whole country. But it's not. So today we see a number of brands like Thums Up develop localised advertising. Apart from language, it is also important to understand and appeal to regional sensitivities. Even media consumption patterns are different across the country. TV leads in certain territories while print leads in others. While it is desirable to have customised communication for each region, it might not be financially and logistically feasible. Hence, it is vital to find a common denominator that appeals to the entire nation. The result, most often, is average and predictable advertising, which clearly is not sharp - like Bollywood movies. But that's India!

The following considerations are kept in mind while creating a campaign for the Indian market.

• Virgin Atlantic centric

Actually, here we are no less than our counterparts abroad. We're talking to people flying to London and back, and even within that category, we are mostly talking to Business Class travellers. So our target group is as evolved as you'd find anywhere in the world.

• Generic

It's a question that we grapple with every day. Unlike Western nations, ours is a diverse country - different languages, different cultures, etc. So it is important to understand the scope of the communication we are about to create.