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Paramount Eyes India-Gulf Skies
The India-Gulf sector, one of the busiest international aviation routes in the region, will see more competition with Paramount Airways, a premium Indian carrier, planning operations to the UAE and Qatar later this year.
“We will start our international operations in the last quarter of 2010,” M. Thiagarajan, the founder and managing director of the airline, told Khaleej Times on Tuesday. “We plan operating flights to Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Doha.”
The airline, with only business-class seats, has placed orders for 10 Airbus A-321 aircraft, to enable it to launch its international operations. Thiagarajan says the airline will also operate flights to Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka, the Maldives and Mauritius, besides the two Gulf countries.
India’s civil aviation policy allows private airlines to start international services on completion of five years of domestic operations. Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airlines are the only two private airlines now operating international services.
SpiceJet and GoAir, two low-cost carriers, and Paramount Airways, the all business-class airline, are among the three private carriers that will be completing five years of domestic operations in 2010, entitling them to launch international services.
SpiceJet is expected to launch services to South and South-East Asia, while GoAir has not announced any plans for an international foray. Jet Airways operates flights to eight destinations in the Gulf from India: Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Doha, Bahrain, Kuwait, Riyadh and Muscat.
Last week, the Indian government granted traffic rights to Kingfisher Airlines to operate on seven new international routes, including two to the Gulf-New Delhi-Dubai and Mumbai-Dubai. The airline, which currently operates flights from Bangalore to Dubai, is still to announce the launch dates for the new routes.
According to Thiagarajan, the Indian aviation industry is looking at a revival, after having undergone a difficult period last year. “With the increase in GDP and economic growth there will not be any dearth for business flyers,” he points out. “The aviation sector can do better if there is rationalisation in taxes and other airport levies.”
Paramount Airways has a dual configuration of first and business class and provides a corporate jet feel to its passengers.
The airline’s founder says that in a short span of time, Paramount Airways has established a 27 per cent market share in southern India and is fast emerging as an aspirational brand in the country.
“We are now in tandem with our growth plans to have a national presence,” he points out. “We will replicate our successful business model in international operations. We will look at replicating the same services on the new routes.”
The airline plans to acquire nearly 10 turbo planes to cater to tier-II and tier-III cities in India. “We currently operate to 16 destinations and we plan to increase this to 40 by end of 2011,” says Thiagarajan.
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