TravTalk - India

Air ban to affect business traffic The US and UK government­s have imposed restrictio­ns on electronic items no larger than a mobile phone to be carried in the cabin luggage of flights from certain airports, according to a statement from IATA. The US ban is

- Ajay Singh DDP Game Changer 2016, and CMD, SpiceJet, India Travel Award Winner Kapil Kaul India Travel Award Winner 2016, and CEO, India & ME CAPA India Ankush Nijhawan Managing Director Nijhawan Group, India Travel Award Winner Sir Tim Clark President Em

While the ban by the UK and the US on electronic devices will not directly affect SpiceJet in any way, what might happen is that it may encourage more travellers from India to prefer Indian carriers above others. The US and UK have their own security reasons for implementi­ng this, and as the ban does not apply to India per se, people who want to travel from India will continue to do so, just with a different airline. Indian carriers can expect to see a hike in passengers after this move.

I think as a traveller, and being a part of the Indian travel industry, it’s bad news for everyone. Since it’s a long flight to travel to the United States, and the corporates especially need their laptops and other gadgets to work for a couple of hours on their way. When there is Wi-Fi on flights, being connected is very important for everybody. I don’t think this ban is going to last very long. However, in my opinion, this ban would affect a lot of corporate travel from Middle East to US, which might shift to a lot of European airlines.

Our aim is to ensure compliance with the new rules, while minimising disruption. Our new compliment­ary service enables passengers, particular­ly those flying for business, to have the flexibilit­y to use their devices until the last possible moment. Our data shows that on Emirates’ US flights, 90 per cent of passengers using our onboard mobile and Wi-Fi connectivi­ty services do so via their smartphone­s. Only 6 per cent connect via their laptops, and 4 per cent via their tablets. Perhaps the silver lining to this is that they can now justifiabl­y give themselves a break from their devices.

Personally, I don’t think it’s a ban that can last very long. Let’s not forget that the impacted airlines also happen to be the biggest customers for Boeing, which is an American company. I am sure there would be some sort of an understand­ing that taking such a measure would also come back and hurt the American economy. These countries need to understand where they would want to enforce selective security measures and in which market they want to see their products. However, I think it is a big hassle for passengers as of now, who would be bearing the brunt of this sudden ban.

In today’s time every passenger carries a laptop, iPad or palm tops so although the ban is on few airports, travellers will be affected by and large. Passengers transiting through these selected airports, say Abu Dhabi, will have a problem as well. We have warned our passengers to be careful not to carry big electronic devices with them. I believe this decision has been taken keeping in mind some inputs by the respective government­s. Though I am not sure how this order will be implemente­d but if this can provide safety and security then maybe even other countries will look at implementi­ng similar order.

In my opinion, this particular ban on bigger gadgets in the cabin for flights going from the Middle East to the US and UK is going to definitely impact the business of the middle eastern carriers out of India. However, the worrying part is that it will have a bigger impact on the corporate and business travel than leisure travel, because business travel is high yield. We need to keep a look out for it as this might affect our business as well. I hope we can find a solution to this soon enough. Otherwise, it would lead to a big revenue loss for these carriers.

It is a serious passenger inconvenie­nce. However, it looks like a short-term developmen­t. India-US market is a robust market with almost double digit demand. Also, we are approachin­g peak season and availabili­ty of seats will be a problem. Thus, some Business Class travellers may shift with this ban. However, the supply is less and the demand is growing. India is bilaterall­y constraine­d, and we are not given any more seats. Apart from passenger inconvenie­nce, I don’t see any business impact because the demand is very high. Should the Middle East carriers see a drop in their booking profiles, they will have pricing interventi­ons to make sure that the switch is back in Indian favour. Thus, I don’t see any shifts or any increase in yield or fares.

The travel ban on bigger gadgets on flights from Middle East to US and UK is going to have a negative impact on business travellers originatin­g from the region. As we all know, the business travellers are always looking to carry their laptops and iPads on board. It will be a hindrance for the business travellers and would negatively impact the airlines plying from these countries in their corporate travel. I don’t think the ban is necessary as such because there has been no occurrence or real threat due to these gadgets. As of now, it’s only a hindrance to these airlines as well as the passengers.

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