Air India targets big boost to revenue with revamped business
23 Jun 2018
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National carrier Air India is looking at a big boost to its revenues with revamped services, new uniforms for crew, new exotic cuisine and a newly-launched premium class that has been christened as “MaharajahDirect”.
The airline is expecting to boost its revenue by around Rs2.5 crore on a daily basis to Rs6.5 crore per day from the existing Rs4 crore with additional inome from the new services.
The launch of the revamped service, along with new uniforms for the crew and cuisine, are part of the game plan for making the airline attractive to the investor as the government failed to push the sale of loss-making state-run carrier.
With revamped services that offer first class and business class in its fleet of Boeing aircraft flying to international destinations, Air India looks to woo high-end travellers and increase the occupancy from 60 per cent to over 80 per cent.
At present, the airline has a 17-per cent market share on international routes. It has over 2,500 international prime-time slots per week, spread across 43 overseas destinations.
“The important revenue stream for any airline is the business class and the first class. Therefore, revamping the Air India business class is an attempt by the airline to be on par with the business class of any airline worldwide.
“Passengers will get a much better experience for the same money they were paying earlier. They are not going to be charged anything extra,” civil aviation secretary RN Choubey said at the unveiling of “MaharajahDirect”.
Civil aviation minister Suresh Prabhu said, “The government is committed to making Air India a far better company than what it is today.”
While the airline and its staff had little control over its financial and legacy issues, they could certainly improve the delivery of services and do wonders for the airline, he added.
