Air Canada’s Dreamliner in Delhi
Duncan Bureau, VP, Global Sales, Air Canada tells about the inaugural non-stop flight from Toronto to New Delhi which touched down at IGIA on Nov 2.
Indian Market
Elaborating on the growth prospects of the Indian market, Bureau says, “India is a tremendous opportunity for us. As there is a diaspora of 1.3 million people in Canada from Indians and we are adding 30,000 Indians to Canada every single year. There is huge investment that Canada makes in India; there are 600 corporations in Canada that either have an acuity position or some business relationship here in India.”
Talking about their relationship with the travel trade, he says, “We have a ‘pay for performance’ type of relationship with all our travel trade partners. The travel distribution network here in India is particularly important as a large percentage of traffic gets booked through travel agencies. We have strong relationships with international TMCs, American Express, HRG, BCD, but we also have strong and close
relationship with a number of travel agencies here in India with whom we have worked for many years now.”
Air Canada’s newest fleet type, the Boeing 787-9, is a state- of- the- art aircraft, he says. “We have waited a long time for this aircraft to start operating in India. There is right economics, right guest experience and definitely the right capability of the aircraft so we are certainly very excited for the service,” Bureau adds.
On the airline’s marketing and business strategy he says, “We are doing incredibly well. We leverage our distribution partners throughout Canada, India and US as well. We have tremendous distribution network. Our load factor figures in November are well above 85 per cent. The reception has been so strong that we have already decided to increase our frequency from four times a week to daily from September 2016.”
“Fuel is a big issue. We certainly don’t control that aspect and the rates may change with any global geopolitical situation. But we are focused on the fact that our cost structure is in line. We have recently invested USD 9.4 billion worth of aircraft. Those aircraft will start coming into the system very shortly. In fact we already have nine 787s. We ordered 37 of them. It is a tough business to make money in. But we are expanding very quickly at Air Canada. We operate in 195 markets globally and by 2020 we hope to operate in 250 markets. At present we carry about 38 million passengers and by 2020 we want to carry 50 million passengers. For us the 787 is a game changer. We have also ordered 100 of 737 MAX aircraft and we will take delivery of them in 2017. By 2020, Air Canada will have one of the youngest fleet globally combined with our 787 fleet, the Boeing 737 MAX fleet, and a number of other acquisitions we have made in narrowbody aircraft,” he adds.
Late booking market
Talking about the differential value-ad as far as seats are concerned, Gary Cross, Senior Director, International Support Services, Air Canada says, “We offer three services on this aircraft: The Business Class, a brand new Premium Economy Class and the Economy Class. We have been operating on the Delhi route for nearly a year now and we did offer some introductory fares and shall continue to have special offers. Now our flights are generally full so one should check with Air Canada to find out the best fares.”
He says Indians are quite a late booking market. “Our flights are booked for the coming couple of months but we have a few seats left to be sold. We call upon the travel trade partners to support us as much as possible to help us make this route successful.”
Business Travellers
Talking about the advantages for MICE, he says, “Air Canada offers a whole range of products for business travellers. We have the Business Class cabin with Lie Flat Seats, state- of- the- art technology and a small and intimate cabin. For the cost conscious travellers we have the Premium Economy Class which is actually more of a Business Class than an Economy one. The intimate cabin has more leg room, with only 21 seats with its dedicated check in, meal service and is particularly aimed at SME and travellers who are travelling to Canada or India for the first time. The economy class of course is available with a seat-back TV.”
He adds, “The inaugural flight took 12 and half hours and is nonstop. It will take 14 hours from Delhi to Toronto. The schedule is particularly good for business travellers and connects with almost all of our domestic services and the US connections. You pre clear customs and immigrations in Toronto itself and arrive in the US as a domestic traveller just before breakfast.”
Competitive advantage
Telling us about the competitive advantage of this flight, he says, “We are the only carrier with a premium economy product on this route. The Business Class has state of the art, latest technology and seats. We are the only carrier to have 4 star catering service based in North America. We have appointed The Oberoi to do our food out of India. We have award winning room service, in- flight entertainment, and food. The flight attendants are multilingual and are fluent in all major Indian languages.”
We call upon the travel trade partners to support us as much as possible to help us make this route successful There is a diaspora of 1.3 million people in Canada who are Indians and we are adding 30,000 Indians to Canada every single year
Duncan Bureau
Vice President, Global Sales, Air Canada