Prospects strong for Indians traveling abroad – Gudstory

“All aircraft orders have been placed to bring a new fleet to the market. Over the next 3-5 years or so, a significant portion of the new orders are expected to be deployed either through the opening of some overseas destinations or for (outbound) growth to these overseas destinations,” said Rajesh Mago, Co-Founder and Group Chief Executive Officer MakeMyTrip said in a post-earnings conference call.

Indian airlines like IndiGo, Air India, Akasa have more than 1,500 aircraft on order. Akasa Air recently ordered 150 Boeing B737 MAX family aircraft last week.

Mago said, “From a demand perspective, I see middle to upper middle class to high net worth individuals, the way disposable incomes are increasing … that’s going to be the other driving force for outbound destinations to grow.” Has been.”

The company expects demand to be boosted by more direct connectivity between Indian and short-haul international destinations. This has also intensified competition in travel choice between domestic destinations and short-haul international cities.

Recently, IndiGo has launched direct flights to Tashkent, Baku and Vistara has launched direct flight connectivity to Bali.

“…major international holiday destinations such as Thailand, Sri Lanka and Malaysia have announced visa relaxations for Indian travellers. Company management said, this is likely to increase demand for these international destinations in the coming times.

The company is also seeing an increase in demand for business and premium economy air tickets.

As a result, it has launched a booking process for business-class flight tickets where customers can preview views of cabin comfort, dining, in-flight entertainment and other amenities.

Overall, the company is optimistic about the strong travel sentiment of Indian consumers and sees new use cases emerging in India for leisure, pilgrimage, visiting friends and family, travel beyond work.

“From a consumer behavior perspective, the frequency with which consumers take breaks in the first place is definitely increasing. Some use cases are also emerging like traveling to celebrate milestones like birthdays or anniversaries or any occasion etc.,” he said.

Additionally, the company said it is also seeing a different kind of use-case for a destination like Ayodhya among many travelers, whereby people want experiences for historical reasons rather than just seeing it as a pilgrimage site.

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Published: Jan 26, 2024, 11:38 pm IST