| Air Deccan will woo high-end travellers too. |
 |
 |
 |
 Luxury and Air Deccan usually didn't go together but a new connection is emerging. India's most popular budget airline and low-cost arrier Air Deccan is now trying to attract high-end corporate executives. So far, its passengers have been first timers, weekend visitors and executives. This is all set to change. Air Deccan chief revenue officer Samyuktha Shridharan told that Air Deccan plans to get more top-level executives and managers to fly the airline withing the next 12 months. "The executive share of passengers flying Air Deccan is currently 7-8% and we'd like to increase this to about 15%. We'd like both low-and high-level executives fly our airline." The world average of executives travelling on budget airlines is around 17-18%. Ryan Air from Europe is a classic example with an executive share of 18%."We'll work on this over the next 12 months." Shridharan said the strategy will ensure that entry of high-end passengers will not impact current passenger load of 82%. "We are looking at a passenger mix and the best balancing act." The new emphasis on high-end executives is geared to enhance overall revenue. "We'd like to generate revenue from price-insensitive passengers or from last-day payers who don't mind paying higher airfares on the last day as long as schedules are ensured. These are people typically with a da's work-fly early morning and return by late evening. They value time and are willing to pay higher fares at the last moment. We'd like to increase our revenue by having more such hig-end passengers." What are the incentives for high-end, luxury passenger to fly budget? The airline is banking on tis on-time schedules, early morning and late evening flights to metros that most executives prefer compared to a mid-day flight and on a positive cost-benefit analysis. "We need to change the perception that Air Deccan means delayed flights. We are working on that. We'll also make presentations to corporate houses on the cost benefits of flying our airline,"Shridharan said. The source of this news is Times of India, Bangalore.
|