 "Gulf carriers hope to fly higher in India")
Gulf airlines led by the big three — Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways are showcasing their modern aircraft at the air show in Hyderabad signifying the importance of the Indian market to the carriers. The air show begins on Wednesday.
Emirates is the biggest of the Gulf and foreign carriers operating in India with 185 flights per week and commands a market share of 11.4 per cent (next only to Jet Airways and Air India) of country's foreign air traffic. Etihad and Qatar Airways have a market share of around 4.5 per cent with onward traffic contributing 60-70 per cent of their passenger volumes.
Qatar Airways is displaying an Airbus A350 the latest aircraft in its fleet which it inducted last January. The airline has seven aircraft of the type in its fleet and 73 more on order.
But with weekly seats between India and Doha capped at 24,000 the airline is at a disadvantage in comparison to its peers.
Except Delhi and Kochi where it flies double daily and eleven times a week respectively all its services are once a day. And obviously the airline is keen to impress the government to enhance its entitlements.
“We are proud to showcase our A350 for the first time in the Indian market, giving prospective clients and visitors a glimpse of what to expect when they fly on board. We recently celebrated the first anniversary of our A350 operations which demonstrates our technologically-advanced and fast-growing young fleet,” the airline's chief executive officer Akbar Al Baker said in a statement last week while announcing its participation in the air show.
Emirates is showcasing its Airbus A380 aircraft while Etihad is displaying its Boeing 787 passenger and a Boeing 777 freighter aircraft.
Dubai is seeking an additional 50,000 seats for its carriers two years after the government granted 11,000 seats on India-Dubai route. Currently Dubai's seat entitlement is 65,000 seats per week and an equivalent number of seats are available to Indian carriers on a reciprocal basis. Abu Dhabi which is hub of Etihad is entitled to 50,000 seats per week. The increase in traffic rights coincided with Etihad's investment in Jet Airways.
According to Airline Network News and Analysis website, UAE is India's largest market with Indian and UAE carriers collectively offered ten million seats one way annually between the two countries in 2015. This is four times the capacity on India-Singapore route which is the second biggest market with 2.2 million annual seats.
"India is the biggest market for all the three big Gulf carriers and India-US market is a key segment. The participation of the Gulf carriers indicates growing closeness between India and these states. The relations extend beyond aviation and are shaped by energy and foreign direct investment in India," said Devesh Agarwal, editor of aviation blog Bangalore Aviation. Passengers from India account for account for a third of Gulf airlines US traffic.
"While domestically, the choices of a resurgent SpiceJet and IndiGo make sense over a poorly run Air India, on international travel, the big 3 Gulf airlines are keen to tap into India's growing affluent income earner market and grab market share. While Emirates would ideally love to fly an A380 on every Indian city it can, arguably, the best positioned player here is Etihad, thanks to its strong bond with Jet Airways. The Gulf airlines will jostle for market share - that they are all displaying their jets at the Hyderabad air show demonstrates just how keen they are to publicise and inform the Indian customers," said aviation analyst Saj Ahmad.
Emirates is the biggest of the Gulf and foreign carriers operating in India with 185 flights per week and commands a market share of 11.4 per cent (next only to Jet Airways and Air India) of country's foreign air traffic. Etihad and Qatar Airways have a market share of around 4.5 per cent with onward traffic contributing 60-70 per cent of their passenger volumes.
Qatar Airways is displaying an Airbus A350 the latest aircraft in its fleet which it inducted last January. The airline has seven aircraft of the type in its fleet and 73 more on order.
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Qatar Airways, which expressed repeated interest to invest in IndiGo, has grown its operations in India from four cities in 2004 to 13 cities at present and flies 102 flights per week.
But with weekly seats between India and Doha capped at 24,000 the airline is at a disadvantage in comparison to its peers.
Except Delhi and Kochi where it flies double daily and eleven times a week respectively all its services are once a day. And obviously the airline is keen to impress the government to enhance its entitlements.
“We are proud to showcase our A350 for the first time in the Indian market, giving prospective clients and visitors a glimpse of what to expect when they fly on board. We recently celebrated the first anniversary of our A350 operations which demonstrates our technologically-advanced and fast-growing young fleet,” the airline's chief executive officer Akbar Al Baker said in a statement last week while announcing its participation in the air show.
Emirates is showcasing its Airbus A380 aircraft while Etihad is displaying its Boeing 787 passenger and a Boeing 777 freighter aircraft.
Dubai is seeking an additional 50,000 seats for its carriers two years after the government granted 11,000 seats on India-Dubai route. Currently Dubai's seat entitlement is 65,000 seats per week and an equivalent number of seats are available to Indian carriers on a reciprocal basis. Abu Dhabi which is hub of Etihad is entitled to 50,000 seats per week. The increase in traffic rights coincided with Etihad's investment in Jet Airways.
According to Airline Network News and Analysis website, UAE is India's largest market with Indian and UAE carriers collectively offered ten million seats one way annually between the two countries in 2015. This is four times the capacity on India-Singapore route which is the second biggest market with 2.2 million annual seats.
"India is the biggest market for all the three big Gulf carriers and India-US market is a key segment. The participation of the Gulf carriers indicates growing closeness between India and these states. The relations extend beyond aviation and are shaped by energy and foreign direct investment in India," said Devesh Agarwal, editor of aviation blog Bangalore Aviation. Passengers from India account for account for a third of Gulf airlines US traffic.
"While domestically, the choices of a resurgent SpiceJet and IndiGo make sense over a poorly run Air India, on international travel, the big 3 Gulf airlines are keen to tap into India's growing affluent income earner market and grab market share. While Emirates would ideally love to fly an A380 on every Indian city it can, arguably, the best positioned player here is Etihad, thanks to its strong bond with Jet Airways. The Gulf airlines will jostle for market share - that they are all displaying their jets at the Hyderabad air show demonstrates just how keen they are to publicise and inform the Indian customers," said aviation analyst Saj Ahmad.
| Gulf carriers in India |
| Emirates : flies 185 flights per week to 9 cities in India. |
| Etihad : flies 175 flights per week to 11 cities in India |
| Qatar Airways: 102 flights per week to 13 cities in India |
| Note: Etihad operates wide body planes only on Mumbai and Delhi routes. To all other cities it operates 136-seater A320s. Emirates operates an all wide body fleet including Airbus A330s, Boeing 777s and Airbus A380s |