Bulk biz from agents
In a candid conversation, SpiceJet’s senior management said that over 50% of their bulk bookings come through travel agents and online travel agencies.
The aviation sector has a lot of expectations from the majority government. Sanjiv
Kapoor, COO, SpiceJet, says, “Now after the elections, the uncertainty is over. The whole sector will benefit and we are waiting.”
He continues, “We are expecting a solid impact on investment and economic activity in India. This will obviously help the aviation sector, because growth rate and airline traffic is highly correlated." He went on to explain that whenever the GDP went up, the airline traffic was always a few graph points above, and the viceversa was true as well. “Now that a single party is in power, it will help us all,” he says.
We are expecting that with the election of a government which has majority, there will be a solid impact on investment and economic activity in India. This will obviously help the aviation sector, because growth rate and airline traffic is highly correlated
Sanjiv Kapoor
Chief Operating Officer, SpiceJet The bulk of airline ticketing, which is about 50 per cent, comes from travel agents and major online travel agents
On the recent announcement of two per cent commission to travel agents,
Kaneswaran Avili, Chief Commercial Officer, SpiceJet, says it all in just one line, “We are just doing what the market requested. In fact, we are following the footsteps of Indi Go, who has implemented this couple of months ago.” He went on to add that airline websites get around 17-20 per cent bookings on their own. But the bulk of ticketing, which is more than 50 per cent, comes from travel agents and major online travel agents like Make My Trip, Yatra and the like.
At SpiceJet, we are committed to work with all our distribution partners to help stimulate different market segments, Avili says. Traditional travel agents give us the reach to conventional market seg- ments, while OTAs give us access to online-savvy segments, and bargain hunters. Ultimately, we would want to ensure that SpiceJet is “easy to book and easy to pay”, he says.
On aviation sector’s expectations from the Modi government, Avili adds, “We have a lot of expectations, all right! India's aviation market is still very high-cost. The fuel costs and the airport charges are a few of these factors. Further, the flexibility of lowcost airlines getting low-cost airport operations is very low, in fact, it's nil at the moment.” But, he continues, “The new government coming in seems pro-business. We are looking forward to showing that the low-cost market segment has grown tremendously, and how they can help us in growing the market in a bigger way in the next couple of years.”
On expectations from the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA), Kapoor says, “I feel that MoCA, the DGCA and the other government bodies are actually partnering very well with the airlines. We have many more dialogues with them, compared to earlier, and so far, the partnership is very positive.”
The duo were speaking on the sidelines of SpiceJet’s announcement of its tie-up with Taj SATS and Café Coffee Day to provide a fresh line of in-flight food to its passengers to differentiate from other airlines.