Tier II & III cities are important Delhi and Mumbai are expensive for airlines but even more so for passengers.
Stephen King, General Manager, India, Virgin Atlantic, speaks to about improved connectivity, courtesy code share with Jet Airways in India and in the US because of the joint venture with Delta.
Tell us about Virgin Atlantic’s India experience since its Mumbai launch?
We are still growing and consolidating partnerships with domestic airlines within India so we can improve connectivity to and from Tier II & III cities. Business has grown from these cities exponentially. Our code share with Jet Airways gives us our focus to spread out more in India. We have launched our Little Red domestic flights in the UK. New flights to New York (JFK) last winter were timed specifically to give connectivity to New Delhi.
We are seeing a huge growth in the number of passengers to the US. We connect Mumbai to Boston, JFK, Heathrow, New York and Chicago. We have hundreds of people flying to San Francisco and LA. So we are becoming the carrier to the US. On the return leg, the transit time at Heathrow is much longer, but
if you have a valid US visa and a confirmed through ticket within 24 hours you don’t need a UK Visa.
This is helping Virgin grow traffic to New York.
Virgin Atlantic had plans to launch direct Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Goa flights, any development on that?
Heathrow slots are always a constraint. Getting early morning slots in an airport which is running 100 per cent capacity is a problem. Our model is good. We need to focus on Delhi and Mumbai and allow local partnerships to connect through. We have a sales office in Bengaluru which is generating a fair amount of business.
Our marketing team is exploring Tier II & III cities that are 6-7 hours drive away from one of our gateways. We get the highest revenue from Punjab. Pune is doing well for us as well.
We also offer a limo service from Pune to Mumbai if you are flying in a premium class.
The focus of our organisation at the moment is the Delta purchase of 49 per cent share of Virgin Atlantic. This trans-Atlantic joint venture will open a lot of opportunities and connections for our customers. It will make us very strong in the US.
Any plans for FDI in India?
We are not currently focusing on an investment in a local carrier as the point-topoint model is working well for us. At the same time I cannot deny that India is an underserviced market, considering the size of the mid
dle class here. There are a lot of opportunities, though the costs make it difficult to operate here.
It’s great that we have got an improving infrastructure, but there are other ways to recover the cost over a period of time. It is doubling costs for the airline.
Virgin is being very cautious about starting new routes in India. Why?
It requires a lot of investment to launch a new route. You have to be sure that you are ready for the move because if you expand too fast you’ll end up losing credibility in the market. There is a huge capital outlay. Next year we are also looking forward to having B787 aircraft join our fleet.
Do you work in close partnership with travel agents?
We have PLBs with a whole range of partners. We recognise travel agents as key partners of our business. Every advertisement we release for consumers, we have a parallel campaign for agents. Every week, I spend a couple of days getting feedback from them.
Does Virgin have any special offers for students who fly to the US and UK at this time?
Students are important for us, we have a great baggage allowance of 50 kg in economy and 75 kg in premium economy. Also, Richard Branson, Founder of Virgin Atlantic has invited young
New flights to New York (JFK) last winter were timed specifically to give connectivity to New Delhi. We are seeing a huge growth in the number of passengers to the US
Indian brains to share their vision on how they can use their education to solve a problem the world faces today. The student whose idea appeals the most will win a 5 lakh scholarship.
How was the summer season?
We have had a good summer, with packed flights. In the summer there is always more traffic going out of India and less coming in, but we recognise how important India is as a destination. After the UK and US markets, India is the most important market and I am excited to be a part of it.