Need for more int’l gateways

The resumption of Virgin Atlantic’s service on the Mumbai-London sector has prompted other carriers such as British Airways, Air India and Jet Airways to cut fares to remain in the competition. While British Airways offered a Rs 40,943 inclusive of taxes and levies ‘holiday offer’ from 16-19 October and again from 29 October and16 November for economy class, Jet Airways has offered Rs 9,990 per passenger (round trip, excluding taxes) on this route for 18 days from 29 October. Air India is offering low fares for tickets bought to London till 7 November, valid for travel till December-end, including all-inclusive economy return fares of Rs 42,000-44,000. Meanwhile, Kingfisher Airlines is also ready to submit a fresh revival plan to aviation regulator DGCA. Experts in the aviation industry believe that the Mumbai-London route will be the priority for Kingfisher’s network. The reason for this price war is that there are only few international gateways in India and majority of the people from across the country come to Delhi and Mumbai for their outbound travel.

Therefore, the logical proposition is that India should have more international gateways. This will ease congestion at major gateway airports and offer tourists more convenient and affordable travelling options. Every region should have at least two more international gateways, thereby spreading connectivity. For example, tourists who visit Taj Mahal come to Delhi or Jaipur and then travel by road to reach Agra, which is time consuming and costly. If we can have an international airport in Agra, it will be much easier for tourists to visit the city and then travel onwards. Moreover, more international airports means more inbound and outbound tourists which, in turn, will provide impetus to inbound and outbound tourism and contribute to economic development of the concerned regions.

If statistics are to be believed, the UNWTO predicts that India will account for 50 million outbound tourists by 2020. With over 28 million passport holders in the country who are potential travellers, the source market for outbound travel is wide and complex because of its size and variety. Moreover, India remains a relatively more buoyant market. Even the GDP growth rate has been revised to 5.5 per cent; India remains a lucrative market for foreign airlines. We welcome the government’s recent decision of granting international airport status to airports in Lucknow, Varanasi, Mangalore, Tiruchirapalli and Coimbatore. More international gateways will not only push the outbound numbers from India but will also push the inbound numbers.