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Aviation
Singapore Airlines to increase flight frequency in India
SANJEEV BHAR - Singapore
Singapore Airlines (SIA) is planning to add more direct flights
from three key Indian cities. Cheng Eng Huang, its executive VP (Marketing &
Regions), said, "We are planning to add on more flights from Delhi, Bengaluru
and Chennai considering the business travel from the Indian market is holding
steady. Our expansion plans are under negotiations with the Government of India
and we shall start operations as soon as possible subject to approval of bilateral
agreements."
The airline hopes to boost seat occupancies with its latest
cabin products. SIA also commenced B777-300ER services to Delhi and Mumbai and
return routes with new cabin products across all classes. Replacing the earlier
aircraft, the new 278-seater has eight First Class seats, 42 Business Class
and 228 Economy Class seats.
At present SIA currently operates 58 weekly flights from
eight major cities - Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru,
Ahmedabad and Amritsar. It is taking an aggressive stance to upgrade its web
booking access in the coming years. It is also going to address all channels
of online distribution for flight booking. Talking of the plans, Huang said
that since internet is the key to airline bookings these days, there will be
extensive focus on developing its online booking facility. "At present
we are getting 10 per cent of the entire bookings from web but within five years
or so we expect to earn 20-30 per cent of our total booking through our own
website with choices of one-way and redemption fares. Also, we will give better
rates than OTAs," he added.
| The airline is also looking to increase its subsidiary
fleet operations in India through SilkAir. Although nothing has been officially
announced, Chai Woo Foo, GM (India) for SIA, said, "SilkAir has recently
added Coimbatore as a destination. Since the airline operates small aircraft
like A320 and A319, it is vital to have a substantial load factor from small
cities it is connecting. The airline is therefore looking at more destinations.
The idea behind SilkAir operations has always been
to develop and identify the true potential of the markets it operates
in. After identifying the possibilities, the destination is upgraded for
SIA flights. "There have been some cities like Vizag and Pune that
offer good possibilities for SilkAir. We are studying these markets for
small aircraft that SilkAir operates but it would be too early to draw
a conclusion," the official quoted. SilkAir at present operates daily
flights from Kochi, four flights from Thiruvananthapuram and three times
weekly from Coimbatore.
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