NEW DELHI/MUMBAI: Emirates, the flagship carrier of Dubai, appears to be playing the role of India's national carrier as domestic players grapple with various crises.
The airline, which operates 185 flights per week, more than any other foreign carrier, has garnered a 20% share of the total outbound traffic over the past year, according to industry sources, edging out competitors in usurping the void created by the curtailed overseas operations of Air India, the actual national carrier, and debt-laden Kingfisher Airlines.
Emirates is well ahead of peers such as Singapore Airlines (86 flights), British Airways (48) and German carrier Lufthansa, all gateway carriers.
A gateway carrier picks up traffic from other countries and routes it through their hub, which is Dubai in case of Emirates. Dubai is a major destination in its own right and is ideally positioned for Indians wanting to catch flights to other parts of the world.
An industry official expressed concern at what he describes as Emirates' ability "to get what they want" from the Indian government.
"Emirates has always enjoyed government confidence better than other carriers. They have always been able to get what they want from India, in spite of the fact that Dubai is no more witnessing a huge surge in manpower requirement from India. In this case, I think a no-objection certificate could have been obtained from Indian industry as a whole and someone should say we can't overlook Indian carriers before taking such decisions," said Jitendar Bhargav, a former executive director of Air India.
Orhan Abbas, vice-president-India & Nepal, Emirates, said, "India is our largest market in terms of operations on our global network and contributes significantly to the overall revenues of the airline. The country has a large population of global citizens and frequent travellers. It is difficult to say what our market share is, but we are the largest international carrier serving India." "Our company has registered a 50% rise in bookings for Emirates over the past three months, which is by far the largest jump for any airline during this period," Pratik Mazumder, marketing head of online travel portal yatra.com, said.
The airline, which operates 185 flights per week, more than any other foreign carrier, has garnered a 20% share of the total outbound traffic over the past year, according to industry sources, edging out competitors in usurping the void created by the curtailed overseas operations of Air India, the actual national carrier, and debt-laden Kingfisher Airlines.
Emirates is well ahead of peers such as Singapore Airlines (86 flights), British Airways (48) and German carrier Lufthansa, all gateway carriers.
A gateway carrier picks up traffic from other countries and routes it through their hub, which is Dubai in case of Emirates. Dubai is a major destination in its own right and is ideally positioned for Indians wanting to catch flights to other parts of the world.
An industry official expressed concern at what he describes as Emirates' ability "to get what they want" from the Indian government.
"Emirates has always enjoyed government confidence better than other carriers. They have always been able to get what they want from India, in spite of the fact that Dubai is no more witnessing a huge surge in manpower requirement from India. In this case, I think a no-objection certificate could have been obtained from Indian industry as a whole and someone should say we can't overlook Indian carriers before taking such decisions," said Jitendar Bhargav, a former executive director of Air India.
Orhan Abbas, vice-president-India & Nepal, Emirates, said, "India is our largest market in terms of operations on our global network and contributes significantly to the overall revenues of the airline. The country has a large population of global citizens and frequent travellers. It is difficult to say what our market share is, but we are the largest international carrier serving India." "Our company has registered a 50% rise in bookings for Emirates over the past three months, which is by far the largest jump for any airline during this period," Pratik Mazumder, marketing head of online travel portal yatra.com, said.
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