Air Sahara eyes Rs 100 cr from global operations

Air Sahara is targeting close to Rs 100 crore revenue, or 10 per cent of its overall turnover, from international operations in the year after it commences international operations. The first international flight will take off for Colombo on March 22.

According to Uttam Kumar Bose, chief executive officer, Air Sahara, "We expect about 10 per cent of our revenues to come from international operations. We will achieve this within 12 months after we start the complete international operations."

Air Sahara, which is planing to operate about seven flights a week from Chennai to Colombo, said that it has permission to operate 21 flights per week to Colombo. The airline will launch services between Mumbai and Colombo in the second phase. It will also connect the Buddhist circuit with Colombo later.

"We will be starting operations from other places in the country if the response from the Chennai-Colombo operations is found encouraging. We already have about 75 per cent of bookings ready for the first flight," Bose said.

Air Sahara has also sought permission from the government to start operations to other destinations in the South Asian Association of Regional Countries (Saarc). The government had given permission to Indian carriers to start international operations to Saarc and had already cleared operations to Sri Lanka.

"Once the government approval for the other destinations comes, we will start operations to those destinations as well," Bose said, adding that the airline plans to add new aircraft to its fleet for international services. It also plans to expand domestic operations.

As part of its operations to Colombo, the airline has tied up with two international airlines for onward connections. The airline is also offering connecting flights from various destinations in India for the flight to Colombo.

The airline plans to offer packages for its Colombo operations, which is priced at Rs 31,000 for a three nights and four days stay. The airline also said that it has appointed Aishwarya Rai as the brand ambassador for its international operations.