HM flying strong in Mumbai
Mumbai, as the first point of entry into India, is showing very strong passenger demand for Air Seychelles. But with the expansion of its code-share with Jet Airways, it is seeing a surge in bookings from other cities as well.
As we enter the busy winter season, our focus is on the significant developments that we have introduced on our Mumbai route this year. We increased the number of weekly frequencies to four from three in April and now place our ‘HM’ flight code on Jet Airways’ domestic flights between Mumbai and nine points in India, including Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Cochin and Trivandrum.
One of the larger projects we are working in is our migration to the Sabre CSS platform, which is also used by Etihad Airways and Jet Airways. This will modernise our IT systems and enhance many processes, such as check-in and reservation. The changeover is scheduled for March 2016.
We have a sales team based in Mumbai that works closely with travel agents, tour operators and corporate clients to promote Seychelles and the other unique destinations in our Indian Ocean network. We are able to work with their top managers to generate programmes and tours that can be sold throughout India. In addition, our partners Etihad Airways and Jet Airways provide further sales support to us in India and we have a close relationship with the Seychelles Tourism Board.
What cities are showing good demand?
Mumbai, as the first point of entry into India, is showing very strong passenger demand. However, since the expansion of our code-share agreement with Jet Airways, we have started to see a growing number of bookings coming from New Delhi, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad and other cities covered under the agreement.
Elaborate on your new initiatives.
There are several initiatives that we have planned in India as we close off the year, including joint marketing activities with the Seychelles Tourism Board, joint promotions with our trade partners, and familiarisation trips for Indian media to Seychelles. We are already engaged with Seychelles Tourism Board on joint planning for key activities in 2016.