Domestic airline in India ramps up service

Posted on Wednesday 25 April 2012

Indian travellers can take domestic trips and still experience some wonderfully new cultures, cities and natural landscapes. Because of its vast size, there are several airlines that cater just to in-country travel that tourists can use when planning their holiday.

For instance, GoAir is in discussions with the government to see how they can best serve their customer base by offering wallet-friendly and efficient flights, reports TravelBiz Monitor. The airline boasts dozens of destinations throughout India and provides passengers with the ability to journey between locales with ease and discounted rates.

However, with rising taxes and fuel prices, companies like GoAir are having difficulty keeping their itineraries affordable. There are ways to work around these problematic situations, however, and GoAir is finding out which solutions may work best. As of now, it uses primarily AirBus A320 aircraft, but it is looking into investing sleeker and small planes to reach less populated destinations.

So far, GoAir has found that adding rural locations to its travel offerings is proving to be the most lucrative way to generate revenue, as many of the villages and towns like Nanded in Maharashtra have only a few options when it comes to flights. GoAir hopes that by helping out the economy though their business, they could receive governmental incentives that in turn could lower ticket prices.

"What we are planning is the refinement of the Nanded model where we are incentivised as the state government has offered us 4 per cent sales tax on flying back from Nanded to Mumbai," Jeh Wadia, managing director of GoAir, told the news source. "What we are requesting is that the government calculate the miles and offer us that tax relaxation from Mumbai to Nanded as well. We have made representations to the other state governments to work on the same plan. This allows these governments to milk their golden goose and also incentivise the airlines."

While many airlines are choosing to expand internationally, companies like GoAir are looking at ways to better serve the domestic demographic. Indian travellers who are taking short breaks in the country could consider flying with airlines that specialise in these types of trips.
 

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