Newstrack

AI Express to launch Ahmedabad-Dubai route on October 8

Reschedules launches from Pune, Goa citing delays in aircraft delivery

Chetan Kapoor - Mumbai

Air India Express, an international low-cost subsidiary of national carrier Air India is set to launch its Ahmedabad-Dubai route on October 8, 2008. Speaking to Express TravelWorld, Captain P P Singh, COO, Air India Express said, "With a fleet of 20 aircraft today and 184 flights per week, we are soon to launch the Ahmedabad-Dubai route initially with three flights a week." The airline has also pushed route launches from Pune and Goa till around February-March citing delays in aircraft delivery owing to the Boeing strike.

The airline currently operates in 14 international and domestic destinations and is looking at posting a profit of approximately Rs 2,000 crore in 2008-09 as compared to Rs 1,300 crore in 2007-08. "We have been profitable since the first year and our load factors are averaging at about 80 per cent. Between April-August 2008, we carried 9,59,701 passengers and are expecting to fly 2.5 million passengers this year," he added.

Explaining as to how the market dynamics will change once more domestic LCCs are allowed international licences, Singh said, "There are a large number of LCCs already flying between the Gulf and India and more LCCs are looking at flying on this sector. However, they have to be careful about their yields because increasing entitlements to the region results in yields going down over a period of time. We have been successful not because of flying to the Gulf, but because of operating directly from more interior points in India and offering great convenience to travellers on their own turf."

To further reduce costs, the carrier recently started its maintenance checks in Thiruvananthapuram for the 14 aircraft operating out of Kochi, Calicut, Mangalore and Thiruvananthapuram and expects to have all its phase checks in a new hangar from March in Mangalore, instead of in Mumbai.