The Hindu : Preparing for the inflow

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Oct 24, 2003

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Preparing for the inflow

By V. Jayanth

If the open skies policy takes off, facilities at airports and the tourism infrastructure will have to be enhanced to deal with the rise in passenger arrivals.

WITH THE gates being opened for an open skies regime, the Government of India and the States will now have to start work seriously on development of infrastructure both for the airports and to serve the extra flow of tourists expected. First the offer of unlimited access to the major international airports was made to the ASEAN countries. This was quickly followed by the grant of free access to the designated airlines of Sri Lanka.

India has offered open access to New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad and unlimited access to 18 tourist destinations. Some of the foreign airlines have begun to rework their schedules to launch new or additional flights to these destinations. However, the Centre and the State Governments too have to prepare the basic infrastructure to cope with the expected increase in tourist arrival during the peak season — November to February.

While some of the major airports are already feeling the pressure of congestion and bunching of flights, many of the smaller ones in important tourist centres are ill equipped to handle international flights. The 18 chosen destinations must also gear up for the anticipated increase in arrival of tourists from Southeast Asian and South Asian countries.

According to airline industry sources, each country or its airline may have different centres of interest — commercial, tourist, religious or even ethnic. For instance, they say, Thailand and Sri Lanka may be interested in the Buddhist circuit centring around Bihar, while tourists from Singapore and Malaysia may look at destinations such as Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad, in addition to the financial and political capitals — Mumbai and Delhi.

The sources say that many of these airlines have already crossed their share of traffic under the bilateral aviation pacts and have entered into code sharing the royalty agreements with Air India or Indian Airlines to use their quota of seats. Though many of them fly to Delhi and Mumbai, the focus of their operations has been the south — Hyderabad, Chennai, Bangalore and Thiruvananthapuram. With the offer of unlimited access, some of the foreign airlines have already decided to increase the frequency of flights to airports of their choice. In the case of Singapore Airlines, Malaysian Airlines and Sri Lankan Airlines, there are daily services to centres like Chennai and operating any more may be difficult.

The foreign airlines have been finding it difficult to increase the frequency to the already congested airports and unless there is greater flexibility over the timings, it may be well neigh impossible to push in additional flights. Unless daytime landings are allowed in centres like Chennai, the Southeast Asian airlines may not be able to operate more services. As of now, Singapore Airlines operates 29 flights a week to India and its subsidiary Silk Air another 11 services. Malaysian Airlines System offers 23 services a week to various Indian destinations. Sri Lankan Airlines already connects eight Indian centres and operates 44 flights a week. It operates twice-a-day services to Chennai from Colombo, while Indian Airlines too has a daily flight. Despite this high frequency, most of the flights are fully booked. If more services are to be operated and the private, scheduled airlines in India also enter the fray in this regional sector, the competition can well be imagined.

Airlines industry sources say the infrastructure at all the selected airports has to be upgraded to handle more flights and passengers. And if there are going to be more passengers and tourists coming into these destinations, the tourism infrastructure has also to be revamped and upgraded. This requires careful planning, speedy implementation and a complete involvement of the private sector. Unless the Centre and the States get their act together and start moving on this front, there could be chaos when these additional flights land in these second-line airports.

In addition to the ripple effect that an open skies policy will have on the tourist industry and the individual centres, there is bound to be a positive impact on the fare structures as far as passengers are concerned. Already, return fares to Singapore and Kuala Lumpur from Chennai are cheaper than the ticket to Delhi — except on the discounted offers. The airlines and travel agents are also offering attractive packages such as a free stay for three or four days. When the private Indian airlines are allowed to fly out to Colombo, the fares are bound to collapse — the Chennai-Colombo-Chennai fare may fall to just 40 to 50 per cent of the existing rate. This, the airlines expect, will provide the flow of passengers for the additional flights that will be introduced.

The Indian tourist season normally begins in September-October and extends till February or March. Many of the foreign airlines may not be able to press into service too many flights this season, though the more professional and commercially-managed carriers may manage a few extra services for the peak of the season — Christmas to New Year and Pongal (harvest festival) on January 14. The onus is now on the Central and State Governments and the domestic hospitality industry to accept the challenge and prepare to receive more foreign tourists and offer them a comfortable and affordable trip to India. In the absence of aggressive marketing abroad, it is by word of mouth that Indian tourism can flourish and for that to happen, the ground situation needs to improve.

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