Air India to add 3 new destinations to Gulf

Air India will start three new services from the Gulf connecting India, bring the total number of Gulf connections to 18

A direct flight fom Dubai will connect Vishakapatnam in the South Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.

Deepak Barara, Executive Director, Air India, said the new routes planned to the Gulf include a flight connecting Manama, Bahrain and Dammam to New Delhi.He was at the annual review meeting with representatives of various travel agents selling Air India tickets.

While 18 new routes would begin operations, the recently cancelled Salalah-Thiruvananthapuram flight will also resume shortly, he said adding that currently there are 21 flights a week from Gulf countries to India.

There has been an overall improvement in the airlines bottom line with a near-double digit growth in net profit (9.89 per cent) and a 20 per cent growth in bilateral air traffic flow between India and the UAE.

Eighteen new flights will cater to the increased demand of the peak  “India is a growing economy and the double-digit revenue growth is due to a corresponding growth in the country’s GDP. The weakeness of a leading private airline would have helped the  national carrier, but the main reason for the growth has been the GDP growth,” he said, adding that various measures are being taken to revive the national carrier, which sometimes find it difficult to pay staff salaries.

He said Air India and Air India Express together account for about 30 per cent of the total traffic between India and the UAE. “Delhi Airport is closed for a few hours in the early morning and all the flights are rescheduled to the remaining scheduled. That is one reason for some flight delays,” Barara said.

Abhay Pathak, Regional Manager, Gulf Middle East and Africa said some delays in flights are due to technical and other reasons. A call centre to address passenger grievances, promised by the Chairman and Managing Director, last year is yet to materialise though.

He added A321 carriers will be deployed to some Kerala airports. Air India officials said various Indian carriers are also planning to increase fuel surcharge, as already implemented by Etihad Airlines and Emirates.

Meanwhile, Air India Award for achieving the best sales target was bagged by Akbar Travels, followed by first runner up Deira Travels.
 

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