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India has emerged as the third-largest market for Virgin Atlantic after the United Kingdom and the USA, on revenue generation; while it is the fastest growing one for the airline globally, Alex McEwan, Country Manager, South Asia, Virgin Atlantic, told BusinessLine.
Nearly 5 to 10 per cent of the carrier’s global revenues come from Indian ops.
According to him, compared to other markets, the post-Covid recovery and expansion of the airlines operations in India has been the highest.
Post-Covid, as international flight operations resumed, the carrier trebled operations here.
From one daily-direct flight, it now has three daily – direct flights to its international hub – in London. Virgin Atlantic, at present, has two direct daily flights from Delhi to Heathrow, and one from Mumbai to Heathrow.
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During the January to August period of this year, aroundsome 7.70 crore people opted for Indian carriers, up 68 per cent over the same period last yearMcEwan said nearly 70 per cent of the passengers from India travel to London and from there elsewhere in Europe; while the remaining 30 per cent take connecting flights to the USA.
“India is growing faster than rest of our network. If you see, India is in a growth phase are is a core part of our strategy. Operations here not just recovering post-Covid, we are in fact expanding,” he said. “If you ask me, India is right there after the UK and USA in terms of revenue and contributes 5–10 per cent of global turnover.”
Pent-up Demand
Virgin Atlantic’s India flights saw a 90 per cent load factor in July, and the trend in future bookings indicate “at least 85 per cent occupancy” going forward.
Occupancies are at similar 85-90 per cent levels across all its three offerings – economy, premium economy and the business classes.
“We see very strong travel trends in India. And, over the next 5 - 10 years, the country is poised to be among top three aviation markets of the world – after the US and China,” he said.
The pent-up demand and the aspirational middle class which is willing to travel will drive growth in India.
Higher jet fuel prices or slower issuance of visas are yet to impact demand.
Code Share
According to McEwan, a call on expanding operations in the carrier’s “largest growth market”, is “yet to be taken.” However, the airline has already entered into a code-share agreement with IndiGo.
Virgin Atlantic announced the code-share for seven Indian cities, which will be extended to more. Long-term plans would be to tap into IndiGo’s international network specially countries like Maldives and Nepal.
“As of now we are connecting within India but in the longer term we will tap into IndiGo’s international network,” he said.
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