The Hindu Business Line : `No major cancellations to SE Asia'

Flights ex-Kolkata and ex-Chennai to destinations such as Bangkok, Yangon, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur are registering normal-to-high passenger load factors. However, tourists are avoiding the affected destinations such as Phuket and Colombo. As regards Andaman & Nicobar islands, airlines are operating only relief flights to Port Blair.

According to Indian Airlines' sources in Chennai, outbound flights to Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok are operating at capacities that are normal during this time of the year. Post-tsunami, there has hardly been any cancellations on these sectors. Today, 243 passengers flew on an IA Airbus A300 aircraft on the Chennai-Singapore sector. On the Chennai-Kuala Lumpur sector, IA carried 145 passengers on Thursday on an Airbus 320 aircraft. An IA Airbus A300 aircraft has a capacity to carry 245 passengers while an A320 aircraft has been configured to carry a maximum of 145 passengers.

On December 29 IA carried 31 Bangkok-bound passengers ex-Kolkata on its Kolkata-Gaya-Bangkok flight. From Gaya, other Bangkok-bound passengers boarded the flight as well, IA sources in Kolkata said. On the Kolkata-Bangkok direct flight today, IA carried 105 passengers to Bangkok. The number of passengers booked on the Kolkata-Bangkok flight on December 31 and January 1 has been pegged at 98 and 84, respectively. IA has already received 110 confirmed bookings on its Kolkata-Yangon flight that is scheduled to take off on January 3. IA sources said there has hardly been any cancellation on flights to these sectors on account of tsunami. On all these sectors, IA operates A320 aircraft.

Travel trade sources said that Thai Airways flights on the Kolkata-Bangkok sector had operated at around 95 per cent capacity on December 27 and 29.

Singapore Airlines, which operates three flights-a-week on the Kolkata-Singapore sector, has clocked a passenger load factor of around 90 per cent in the past week. The bookings till mid-January 2005 has been stated to be "nearly 100 per cent". Says Mr Bharath Mahadevan, Singapore Airlines' Regional Manager for Eastern India: "We have had one or two cancellations on account of some cruises being cancelled. Since we do not fly to beach resorts from here, I do not expect any major cancellations on our flights."

Mr Sanjoy Sett, Chairman of Travel Agents Association of India (Eastern Region) and Managing Director of Globe Travels, said people would definitely avoid destinations such as Phuket but that would not result in any major revenue loss for the travel industry here. The tourism industry would need to promote alternate destinations such as China, Australia and New Zealand. Already, promotional packages are being offered in association with Malaysian Airlines, which is all set to launch flights on the Kolkata-Malaysia sector from January 29.

Says Mr Manoj Saraf of Gainwell Enterprises, a major player in the travel and tourism business here: "This year, most of the tourists have already commenced their journeys. The effect of tsunami will be confined to a few destinations only. But these too will pick up in the days ahead".

According to Dr Abhijit Chatterjee, a renowned neurologist and an avid traveller, tourists would tend to avoid island destinations in the Indian Ocean region. "There will be some shift in tourist inflows from the affected regions in the short-to-medium term. In the long term, these places will attract tourists again. After all, such natural calamities happen only once in a lifetime," he said.

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page