Qantas Airways, the flag carrier of Australia is planning to start direct flights to India to boost its growth after Covid-19’s bad impact on the airline.
Qantas has a busy international route map in Asia that reaches all popular destinations. There is one notable absence, however. The Australian airline has no direct flights to India, a huge market. While the pandemic is shaking up the market, India could be a perfect match for Qantas.
In a statement in Executive Traveler, Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said it is only a matter of time before the airline comes to India.
He adds that the growing economy and the close ties between the two countries could create a sustainable service. However, there are some issues that Qantas has historically faced in India
Why It Would Work
- India is the fastest-growing aviation market in the world.
- Traffic is expected to double in less than two decades.
- In particular, the number of middle class Indians could reach nearly a billion by 2038, making the country a top destination for airlines worldwide.
- As the economy grows and more passengers are willing to pay higher fares, Qantas can see an opportunity in the Indian market.
“India is always a hard market to service, because Indian traffic is spread through so many different cities in India,” Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce reflected at the recent Reuters Next online forum.
“We’ve tried to serve it in a number of different ways previously – we had Sydney-Mumbai direct, and Sydney-Darwin-Mumbai at one stage when I was running the network for Qantas, and it never made any money.”
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