More articles by

Soumik Dey
Soumik Dey

INTERVIEW

We promise a hassle-free experience

76ashwanilohani

Interview/ Ashwani Lohani, Chairman, Air India

What is the renewed focus of business for Air India?

We have been continuously focusing on improving overall passenger experience. Of late, the domestic sector has grown in leaps and bounds. We are connecting around 67 domestic airports, almost double of our competitors.

What are the new destinations that you will be connecting?

We will be providing more connections in the east and south of India. This includes adding flights on the Kolkata-Bangkok route. We’ll provide seamless connections to passengers headed to Gaya [Bihar] from Yangon [Myanmar]. Between March and May, we’ll add more flights between Kolkata and Bengaluru, and Delhi and Thiruvananthapuram.

What is the USP of Air India?

In India, the destinations we connect are part of the large network of Air India and our partner Alliance Air. We are getting around 17 new ATR turboprop aircraft which will be deployed on new routes and connections like Delhi-Jaipur and Jodhpur-Mumbai. The D-90 and D-60 fare schemes that we offer have ensured that not only the international and NRI travellers but also domestic tourists and business travellers get more value. We offer better food and more leg space and allow 10kg more of luggage than all other point-to-point service airlines.

Are initiatives by the ministry of tourism to promote destinations in India benefiting Air India?

There is a plan to promote tourism in overseas destinations through the offices of Air India in around 21 locations across the world; the tourism ministry has around 17 overseas offices. We suggest that brochures and other material from the Incredible India campaign be made available in our overseas offices. I think discussions are on regarding this and you will be able to see results soon.

Your competition is providing services like holiday packages. Will Air India take any step in this regard?

We cannot make arrangements for transport, stay and food. We had an arrangement with MakeMyTrip to sell these packages for us. Their request for proposal has expired and we’ve to start looking for a new partner. More than that, I think what should matter on a holiday is reliability in the event of a flight cancellation. Air India is the only airline that provides an alternate arrangement to passengers. I have heard that others just ask you to rebook the next day’s flight. Prices are often hiked following such cancellations. We promise a hassle-free travel experience for travellers to all our domestic destinations.

This browser settings will not support to add bookmarks programmatically. Please press Ctrl+D or change settings to bookmark this page.
Topics : #Wanderlust | #travel

Related Reading