Bullish on the “boom” in the Indian aviation market, European airline majors are keen to expand Air France-KLM routes and capacity as well as increase their codeshare routes with IndiGo, according to senior executives.
Air France-KLM, which has increased its seat capacity by 22 per cent compared to 2022, operates 46 weekly flights connecting four Indian cities – Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Chennai. It also has a codeshare agreement with the country’s leading carrier IndiGo for more than 30 cities.
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“We want to increase capacity, routes… We want to expand with IndiGo… The ambition is to do more international (flights),” said Claude Sarre, general manager of the India subcontinent at Air France-KLM. He said that plans are being discussed in this regard.
Codesharing allows an airline to book its passengers on its partner carriers and provide seamless travel to destinations where it has no presence. India is one of the world’s fastest-growing aviation markets, and Air France KLM Group projects to record one million passenger traffic on Indian routes in 2022.
Following the coronavirus pandemic, Surrey said the demand for air traffic is increasing and “the aviation industry is booming in India”. Earlier this week, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines introduced ‘Premium Comfort Class’ on flights between various Indian cities and Amsterdam.
Passengers are looking for more and more quality and are willing to pay extra for good services, said Christiaan van de Koppel, commercial director for the Indian subcontinent Air France-KLM.
He added, “The 22 percent increase in seat capacity (compared to 2022) on routes to India also shows that India is a very high focus market for Air France KLM … We look forward to using our aircraft and Flexible to use on routes in India.” , He shared his views during a virtual interaction with PTI.
Talking about the Indian aviation market, Sarre said that DigiYatra is a good initiative and also stressed the need to promote and produce Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF).
Air France-KLM is a major player in international air transport. The group’s global network offers flights to more than 300 destinations covered by Air France, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and Transavia, according to its website.