"Commoditising air travel was our main objective": GoAir's Raj Halve

By EyeforTravel.com Correspondent in New Delhi
   
There is enormous scope for growth in India's air traffic over the next few
years as low fare carriers spread their wings to encompass more destinations
with greater frequency, feels Raj Halve, chief commercial officer, GoAir.

"We see a situation wherein supply growth will create its own demand over the
years and hence expect a very healthy growth of traffic of over 25 percent per
annum over the years," said Halve.
   
"The aviation industry in India is booming with a growth rate of over 50
percent this year while historic annual growth was a mere four-six percent. The
introduction of the low cost carriers (LCCs) has made flying affordable to the
common man inducing rail and bus passengers to switch to air. There are 15
million passengers travelling by rail each day and over 700,000 who travel
daily by A/C and if we convert even a fraction of that, we have a huge
potential base. With greater Internet connectivity and credit card penetration,
online booking is booming and currently 70 percent of our tickets are booked
online," he says.
   
"Our agenda since we have began operations about a year ago is to offer a
quality consistent, on time product at a price that is affordable, convenient
and safe. We will continue to innovate and provide our customers the best
possible value additions."
   
Beginning its operations in November last year, starting with six flights a
day to four destinations, currently 13 airports are serviced with 193 flights
weekly by its fleet of six aircraft which will increase to seven in November.
   
"We have launched in-flight shopping with AVA merchandising where one can buy
premium brands at discounts of upto 65 percent. A passenger can fly, buy and
save enough money on his purchase to make the flight free," says Halve. "GoAir
is the first private airline to start a direct flight from Mumbai to Srinagar.
We are also the first low cost carrier to offer free wheelchairs, launch free
tickets, offer 10 percent discount to all government employees, armed forces,
students and senior citizens and offer home delivery of tickets as an added
convenience to our passengers. Some of our other achievements have been a
consistent on time performance of 98 percent plus. Another milestone was being
the official carrier for India - England Cricket Teams for the One Day
Series."
   
Halve says with the rising penetration of e-commerce in India, online travel
is gaining momentum. GoAir has witnessed this boom in the form of 70 percent of
the total bookings happening online.
   
"Increasing e-Commerce brings a host of opportunities and the challenge that
we face is to make information available readily and make online booking faster
and even more user friendly. We see online travel agencies as our partners and
another distribution channel for us," he says.
   
Halve feels with air travel progressing towards being a commodity, this will
only lead to a further increase in air passengers.  He adds that it may be easy
to attain customers by luring them with fancy offers, but only a superior
product will build and retain loyalty.
   
"Market trends prove that quality proposition takes over price effortlessly in
the long-term," he says. 
   
In addition to traditional channels like travel agents and airport counters /
ticketing offices, GoAir also have adopted innovative distribution channels
like the internet / cybercafés, call centres, PCOs and M-Commerce.