Atheer – External Sources
The launch of low-cost, long-haul flights by Indian airlines is likely to boost outbound leisure travel and open a multi-billion dollar opportunity for carriers, says a report by aviation consultant CAPA India and online travel agent Expedia. This comes as large budget airlines IndiGo and SpiceJet Ltd draw up plans to fly to destinations such as Europe and the United States.
According to Reuters, only 0.3 percent of Indians, out of around 100 million who could potentially afford to do so, actually travel abroad for a holiday every year. Spending by Indians in the field of tourism could increase to as much as $40 billion by 2027 from only $16.4 billion in 2016, ranking it sixth in the world ahead of Canada, South Korea and Australia.
“If there is any market where low-cost, long-haul can work it is India,” CAPA India CEO Kapil Kaul said at an aviation conference in Mumbai on Tuesday, citing its geographic location and a large order pipeline for new long-range narrowbody jets.
SpiceJet Chairman Ajay Singh said on Tuesday low-cost long haul flights will be introduced as early as this winter.
The low-cost flights would compete against full-service Indian carriers Air India and Jet Airways as well as global rivals such as Emirates and Lufthansa.
Low-cost carriers, launched in the early 2000s, already dominate domestic air travel with a two-thirds market share. The share of budget airlines in the international market rose to about 23 percent in the fiscal year 2016/17, having been 14.5 percent five years earlier.
