At a time when big brother Air India is reeling under a cumulative loss of over Rs 40,000 (forty thousand) crore, it is reassuring that the poor cousin is making profit. The difference is that no one in the government is talking about it and there is hardly any media attention either.

The credit goes to the top management, specially the Chief Executive Officer Mr Shyam Sundar, who is silently working towards improvement of the low cost international carrier. It is no secret that the government’s attention is mainly on country’s flag carrier Air India. And why not? But its low cost arm has made its presence felt, thanks to positive feedback from passengers.” Yes, we are trying our best to serve the passengers as best as we can”, said an airline official.

The focus of attention of the low cost carrier Air India Express is, of course, the Gulf region which gives its maximum revenue though it operates to Singapore and Kualumpur as well. So far, the hinterland has been Kerala from where a very large number of Gulf passengers come. More than 60 per cent of Air India Express passengers to Gulf come from Kerala and the adjoining region of Karnataka.

Encouraged by its success, Air India Express is trying to expand its area of operations. It has recently started operations from Varanasi, Jaipur and Pune to Gulf and is on course to begin flights from Lucknow and Amritsar. It has also started Mumbai- Dubai and Delhi-Dubai operations this month in convenient timings. It is waiting to begin Delhi-Abu Dhabi sector, taking over from Air India.

After Kerala and the adjoining regions of South India, it is well known that UP, Bihar, Delhi, among other states, send maximum number of work force to Gulf states. Low cost Air India Express will be a boon to these poor workers. They raise money with great difficulty to fly to the Gulf for work.

It is not that Air India Express just huddles passengers to carry to the Gulf thereby making money. It provides all essentials like free meal, clean toilets, comfortable legroom and other related amenities. It is just that it cuts cost on freebies, expensive meals and fine-dining cutleries usually associated with international flights.

Even on these, the airline has plans to improve. For example, it now plans to allow passengers between India and the Gulf to pre-book meals online. This will give some choice to passengers. Of course, these special meals will be charged. As it is, the airline provides free meals which is accounted for in the fare charged from passengers. The reason why the airline is starting advance booking for special meals is purely based on passenger demands, according to Air India Express officials. The airline believes the passenger profile is changing and , therefore, the demands of passengers are also changing. So it is just a matter of catering to their demands.

Similarly, the airline is planning to sell short meals and alcohol to passengers on demand. These will be small passenger facilities that the airline plans to provide.

Besides improving upon these, Air India Express is focussing on convenient departure –arrival timings from both ends so that a large number of poor, semi-literate passengers are not put to avoidable inconvenience.

With five more aircraft to join the fleet in another two months, Air India Express is looking forward to welcoming more passengers on board while sticking to its on-time performance. More aircraft will also mean that it does not flog its existing fleet which need timely servicing.

Of course, in all these calculations, the airline needs cooperation and assistance from big brother Air India as well as the Civil Aviation Ministry. International flights need government support through bilateral agreements. Interests of the airline must be watched while signing such agreements. It is here that the role of Civil Aviation Ministry comes.

Indeed, with increasing outbound tourism, time is ripe for the Air India Express to take a leap. Dubai and Abu Dhabi have become a big-time tourist attraction for people from India and the world. At a time when dollar rate is surging around Rs 70 (inclusive of commissions), even well-to-do tourists would prefer saving money on travel. This is where Air India Express counts. (IPA Service)