The Hindu Business Line : Low-cost airline, Indian <I>ishtyle </I>

Air India's proposed low-cost, no-frills airline will make air-travel more affordable, especially for those looking for budget travel to the Gulf and South-East Asia. They will also be able to catch a flight from a city close to where they stay.

AIR INDIA's decision to launch a low-cost airline could see the start of a new era in which Indian travellers can go abroad at a lesser cost even if only in Indian style and comfort.

To be called Air India Express, and presented to the AI board on May 28, the low-cost airline will offer a 25 per cent reduction in fares from the base level of 2003-04, but with scaled down on-board services, including packed snack boxes on short-haul flights and pre-set meals on medium-haul flights.

Apart from enjoying the comfort of a 31-inch pitch in the all-economy class Boeing 737-800 aircraft that the airline will operate, passengers can have tea/coffee and beverages on the house.

However, if the passenger decides to have Indian or foreign liquor, they would have to pay for this. Blankets will be made available free as also headsets. There is also a proposal to allow more free baggage allowance from the Gulf region.

Air India Express, which hopes to take to the skies by next April, plans to launch operations with six Boeing 737-800 aircraft operating 60 flights a week. In a phased manner, the airline plans to increase the number of Boeing 737-800 aircraft it has to 14 and is to double the number of flights operated per week within a year.

The airline plans to operate from Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Kozhikode and Kolkata among other cities from the country and offer services to Dubai, Abu-Dhabi, Kuwait, Muscat, Singapore, Jakarta and Bangkok among other foreign destinations.

Sources indicated that the launch of the AI Express will provide the poorer sections travelling to the Gulf or South-East Asia to earn a better living the opportunity of catching a flight from a city close to where they stay.

Commenting on the need to launch such flights from Kerala and other places, official sources said that "such flights are generally filled with masons, carpenters and the like who travel to the Gulf and other regions to earn a better living.

If something can be done to ease their financial woes by offering them reduced fares and connections from closer home, then it would help."

Apart from meeting a long standing demand of Indian workers travelling to the Gulf and South-East Asian destinations, the decision to launch a low-cost airline will also offer Air India the opportunity to take on similar airlines in the region. While some international airlines have already started operating low-cost airlines to-and-from India, others are keen to start flying into the Indian skies. Already Gulf Traveller, an all-economy, full-service sub-division of Gulf Air, has started operating to India. The airline operates to destinations in India where there is not much demand for premium class seats.

However, Gulf Air also operates to other cities in India offering not only economy but also premium class seats. Another low-cost airline of the Gulf region, the Abu Dhabi-based Air Arabia is keen to start operating to India.

The low-cost airline of Malaysia, Air Asia, has already launched its operations and though it has not yet started flying to India, it seems interested. Besides, Singapore Airlines and Thai Airways International, which operate several flights a week to different destinations in the country, have also announced their decision to launch low-cost airlines.

While the changing aviation environment may have forced AI to actively consider launching the low-cost airline, for the passenger it is another Indian alternative when flying abroad for business or even pleasure.