Lords Travel, based in New Delhi, is one of India’s leading IATA travel companies and has emerged as one of the top and largest airline consolidators for all major international and domestic airlines and has direct access to most of the low-cost carriers and no-frill carriers operating in and out of India. Since its inception in 1994, Lords Travel has always understood the requirements of global travellers and has served millions in the process. B S Arora, Managing Director, Lords Travel, shares his candid viewpoints on some aspects of the current aviation market in India.
– Prashant Nayak
In the global space, India’s aviation market is escalating to attain a new high. The industry is currently entering a period of substantial growth and transformation and the aviation market is bracing for exciting times ahead with airlines like Air India and IndiGo, leading the way. Speaking about the exciting phase that the aviation industry in India is witnessing post-pandemic, Arora says, “The aviation industry has three entities, airline, consolidators, and sub-agents. All three have different growth experiences post-pandemic. Airlines are definitely doing better post-pandemic, but covering up the deficit will take them some time. Hiking fares considerably have currently established a stable footing. On the other hand, the earnings of consolidators remain limited as they have to share every bat with their sub-agents. The sub-agents are doing well as they directly deal with passengers and keep good margins with them.”
As already one of the largest and fastest-growing aviation markets in the world, the aviation landscape in India has enough and plenty more to spare for multiple players. That is evident from the expansion by the Air India group and IndiGo and also start-ups like Akasa Air. Along with that, international airlines are bullish on the Indian market and are keen to have more bilateral so that they can operate more flights. Arora also believes that the Indian aviation market has enough space for multiple airlines to thrive. However, he feels that operating an airline comes with many challenges, particularly the cost factor. He mentions, “The cost of operating an airline remains very dynamic with various factors involved, like fuel, landing and parking costs, airport’s service through a third party, and many more. The airline that remains financially good is surely working towards expanding its wings in the international market too, which is a good sign of utilising bilateral slot advantages, unlike the past.”
Whether people are flying for business or pleasure, passengers have a few basic expectations that they look for even before they step onto the plane, which could mean affordable fares, on-time performance, hassle-free and courteous service, correct baggage handling, and safely reaching the destination. Interestingly, Arora points out that, on average, the on-time performance of most of the airlines is definitely remarkable, however same cannot be said about airfares with restricted travel. He says, “All the airlines have hiked fares so much that now passengers are increasingly considering longer or time-consuming routes to reach their destination in a bid to lower their cost. Further, to be very honest, the grievances of passengers or travel agents are not always addressed with sincerity. Lengthy follow-up time where often the response is that the headquarter is not cooperating is surprisingly a standard reply.”
Frequent flyer programmes and loyalty schemes offer a range of benefits for people travelling in and out of India, who are looking for ways to maximise their travel rewards. While there are plenty of benefits to frequent flyer programs, Arora states otherwise, “Frequent flyer bookings are mostly coming out of corporate houses as these customers definitely travel only on particular carriers because of their points and not due to the service factors. The loyalty creation by offering gimmicks of additional services to travellers may not work much in today’s conditions, as airlines are realising it is simply a cost which was not understood by them in the past. Passengers today are looking for smooth and reliable travel and can well do without additional benefits.”
The Ministry of Civil Aviation has begun the fifth round of the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) to further improve connection to rural and regional parts of the nation and attain last-mile connectivity after the first four rounds of bidding were successful. On this, Arora says, “The expansion with the RCS by the government is surely working positively to create the best network of operational airports. The Indian skies will surely be able to accommodate more players in the coming days after all the new airports in the pipeline are operational, with more slots available.”
