New places, newer planes

2017 promises to be action-packed for domestic flyers right from the start. This is mainly because of the government’s ambitious Udey Desh Ka Aam Nagrik, or UDAN scheme, which wants to take aviation to those living in Tier II and Tier III cities.

The UDAN scheme is part of the National Civil Aviation policy that was released by the Ministry of Civil Aviation in July 2016. One of the main objectives of the policy is to enhance regional air connectivity through fiscal support and infrastructure development.

The Centre has fixed January 27, 2017 as D-day for opening the technical bids for players interested in operating under UDAN. While the date for selection has not been announced yet, it is expected to be soon as the proposal has the backing of the who’s who in the government.

The Centre and States have come forward to provide subsidies to those operators who are willing to offer an one-hour flight between Tier II and Tier III cities at ₹2,500. Maharashtra, Gujarat, Puducherry, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Uttrakhand are among the 11 States and Union Territories that have signed up for UDAN.

Needless to say the scheme is expected to see the entry of new players. Analysts feel that for the scheme to be successful and viable a small aircraft having the capacity to seat about 20 passengers per flight is ideal. New operators are expected to induct such aircraft in their fleet for starting operations.

There is already a fair amount of interest in the scheme as the States are rolling out the red carpet and providing sops like allowing their officials to travel by air within the state instead of by train or road.

Analysts feel that four to 10 new regional airlines could take to the skies in 2017 involving an investment of $300-400 million.

However, even the existing airlines are seeing an opportunity here.

Senior Air India officials told BusinessLine that the state-owned carrier is planning a daily “garland flight” connecting Kolkata-Raipur-Indore-Ahmedabad-Jaipur-Delhi. “One aircraft will start in Delhi and at the same time the other will start from Kolkata,” an official said, adding that the airline is planning to use ATR 72-600 (72 seater) type of aircraft for this flight.

Similarly, SpiceJet is also keen to tap the opportunity. “We foresee great growth potential in Tier-II, Tier-III cities and other smaller towns which we intend to tap,” said Kamal Hingorani, Senior Vice President and Head of Inflight Services and Customer Experience, SpiceJet. “We are the largest regional player in the market and, hence, while on the one hand, we will continue to reinforce frequencies on high potential routes, on the other we will establish connectivity to the under-served markets.”

(GoAir refused to be part of this article, while IndiGo did not comment on its plans for UDAN).

However, the focus is not going to be only on the smaller cities. Flyers in the bigger cities will not be left out of the action as several airlines are set to take delivery of brand new aircraft.

Pointing out that there will be ample capacity in 2017 with Air India, Vistara, IndiGo and a host of others looking to add aircraft, Ankur Bhatia, Director, Amadeus India, a leading technology provider in the sub-continent, said the inductions will improve the flying experience for the common man.

“Some airlines like Air India and Jet Airways will look to operate dedicated wide-body aircraft on domestic routes. It will offer a different level of comfort for domestic travellers,” he said.

Air India senior officials said the Maharaja is looking at increasing flights on a number of routes including Delhi-Lucknow, Delhi-Cochin and Delhi-Calicut. “Air India will look to provide same day return facilities to more cities and between metros,” officials said.

A Vistara spokesman told BusinessLine that the airline is growing its footprint in India and its customers can look forward to more product and service innovations next year, “We’ll add more aircraft to our fleet, introduce new destinations and also increase frequencies on some of the existing routes,” he said.

For SpiceJet, 2017 will be a year of augmenting customer experience with customer friendly digital offerings to facilitate hassle-free travel during check-in and on board the aircraft, said Hingorani. The airline will provide ‘Touch to take off’ technology for a smart check-in and NetzChef, an on-board tab-based, refreshment service.

With inputs from K Giriprakash