Indian expat labour market on West Asian airlines` radar

Now its low-fare subsidiary Air India Express, which flies 12 destinations across West Asia and has more flight frequencies than any other airlines, will be facing some stiff competition

Emirates, Sharjah-based Air Arabia, Kuwait-based Al Jazeera and Saudi Arabia-based Nas Air are among the airlines that either have launched or are launching low-cost services for this market, which alone accounts for over half the passengers who travel between India and West Asia.

 

Most are offering fares comparable with Air India Express, which are 65 per cent cheaper than full-fare airlines and are gaining about 1.5 per cent market share every month, according to a study by the Centre for Asia-Pacific Aviation (CAPA).

At this rate, CAPA estimates that these low-cost carriers will control over 30 per cent of the overall India-West Asian market by 2010. The market is growing at over 25 per cent a year and is expected to touch 60 million passengers by 2010.

The biggest challenge is coming from West Asia giant Dubai-based Emirates Airlines which recently announced a low-cost airline as a separate brand.

According to industry sources, Emirate is considering flying a Super Jumbo A-380 to India with over 700 seats catering to the expatriate Indian labour market in the region.

"This is a big cake and Emirates admittedly has a big slice of it, but there is plenty for other airlines and we welcome them to the region," said Emirates' Chairman and Chief Executive Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al-Maktoum.

Emirates' low-cost carrier is expected to take off within a year and its strategy is to fly all markets that are within four to five hours' flying time from Dubai, obviously including India.

The new Emirates Airline has a ready market. There are 1.4 million Indians in the United Arab Emirates, the West Asian federation of seven states