Akshay Kumar – Mumbai
SilkAir, the regional wing of Singapore Airlines is planning to start operations to Pune. The airline already flies to eight destinations in India namely; Bengaluru, Chennai, Coimbatore, Hyderabad, Kochi, Kolkata, Thiruvananthapuram and Visakhapatnam. It plans to expand its network to Tier II and Tier III cities in India.
Speaking about the new developments, Jagdish Ram Bhojwani, general manager- India, SilkAir said, “In terms of the existing range of fleets, we can only fly to the south market, but we will soon get our Boeing 737 Max which will give us a range of six to six and half hours from Singapore. Pune will be the next target city for us. Pune is a city which has both MICE and leisure travellers. Moreover, travellers coming to Singapore from Pune have to take a flight from Mumbai, which becomes hectic.”
When asked about the date of operation Bhojwani added, “Pune does not fall under the India- Singapore Bilateral Agreement. From our side we have intended to start operations.”
With the reduction of fuel prices the aviation sector has undergone a major transformation. “We have announced a fuel charge reduction effective from February. Passing benefits to our customer is our main objective.”
Speaking about a new trend in the India market Bhojwani said, “We are present in almost all south Indian states, every market is different. With the division of Telengana from Andhra Pradesh, we have seen a rise in the number of inbound growth into Visakhapatnam. Investors are very keen to target this particular city. Also we have seen an excellent demand from the Coimbatore market where we are operating since last eight years.”
SilkAir started its operations to India in 1999 and currently operates 36 weekly flights from eight Indian cities.