The Hindu Business Line : A380s set to change Singapore Air flight path

INDIANS who find themselves frequently on long haul flights to destinations in Europe and the US might be sore the Airbus A 380 is not immediately expected to come to India, at least for the next two years that it will take for the infrastructure to welcome the big bird is in place.

The Singapore Airline's Country Manager, India, Mr B.K. Ong, however, is excited about the expected arrival of the fleet in Singapore, some time this December.

"Our order of a fleet of twenty five A 380s is expected in Singapore by early December and we hope to initially start with the Singapore-Sydney route, then Singapore-London and later, probably Japan," says Mr Ong, who has been with SAL for over 30 years. What excites Mr Ong, even more about the A380s' addition to SAL's fleet is what it could mean for Singapore Airlines operations in India. "The addition of the A380s will mean the immediate freeing up of a number of aircraft from our existing fleet.

While there is nothing firm just now, a logical conclusion arising out of this could be that we could have non-stop flights from India to destinations in Europe and the US, originating in Singapore, he says.

With air travel on the rise and frequent long haul flights an uncomfortable reality for thousands of people, Mr Ong says the demand is now up globally for non-stop flights and this could be an area that could be tapped by SAL.

"India is an emerging market which is very important to the airlines and the only thing that restricts us from rapidly expanding is the bilateral air services agreement and the non-availability of aircraft, Mr Ong told this newspaper.

Singapore Airlines, which started operations to Chennai in 1972, operates 47 weekly flights to 8 destinations in India including two daily flights to Mumbai, daily flights to Delhi & Chennai, 5 times weekly to Bangalore 4 times weekly to Kolkata & Hyderabad and 3 times weekly to Ahmedabad and Amritsar.

In addition, its subsidiary regional airline SilkAir operates 5 flights to Kochi and 3 flights to Thiruvananthapuram.

"We would like to rapidly expand our operations and my aspirations currently are to commence daily services out of Bangalore and double our services out of Chennai and Delhi. Everything depends on the agreement between the two countries, he said. Mr Ong said Hyderabad is also a fast evolving destination for the airlines and "has the potential for a daily service at some point".

SIA, meanwhile, is not unduly worried about the competition that is currently heating up Indian skies. "It keeps us on our toes and we are continuously working at products, customer service and even in-cabin facilities such as in-flight entertainment to stay ahead of competition," he said.

"For instance, an inner circle product development team in Singapore is right now engaged in a highly confidential project to work out the facilities that we will offer in our A380. The airline is committed to carrying less than 480 passengers and the brief to our development team is to develop an all new experience in flying," he added.

The Indian civil aviation industry is also abuzz with talk of a clutch of low-cost international carriers heading towards India for a slice of the lucrative business. At least one of them is already operating to Kolkata. Mr Ong, however, is not worried about a prospective reduction is margins due to the competition. "The low cost carriers will generate additional markets by catering to a new segment of travellers. We intend to remain a premium service provider but having said that, I must also point out that the volumes here are so big, there is space for more operators across segments."

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