Kochi, Emirates’ busiest route
In an interview with Essa Sulaiman Ahmad, Vice President– India and Nepal, Emirates Airlines, finds out more about the carrier’s plans for India.
Emirates, and the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) in New Delhi, released the results of an economic impact study that measures Emirates’ contribution to the Indian economy. NCAER estimates that Emirates’ operations have contributed over US$848 million annually to India’s GDP, supporting over 86,000 Indian jobs and generating almost US$1.7 billion in Foreign Exchange Earnings.
We have Kochi as the busiest route in India at 91% load factor
Talking about the Indian market, Essa Sulaiman Ahmad said, “We are not planning to start any new destination that we have announced in India, but we are looking at our bilaterals. As per the announcement of NCAER, we have Kochi as the busiest route in India at 91%. seat load factor.”
Talking about year 2015 and plans for 2016, he said, “We have been growing positively and we have a great travel pattern from different type of indus- tries and different types of traffic mixes. Year on Year (YOY) we have been getting more destinations out of Dubai. New markets have been created and we are also coming up with new product offerings. In the next five years, we are looking for 67 percent growth in the number of
Commenting on the draft civil aviation policy for India, Ahmad, said, “The government has taken a very positive step to include the stakeholders and talking about it. We have been asked by the government to look at the draft civil aviation policy, and respond with our views as stakeholders and we will be doing that in due time.”