MUMBAI // The potential impact on Indian demand for air travel to the United States after the laptop ban on flights through Middle East airports will not stop an increase in airline capacity between the Arabian Gulf and the subcontinent.
The US last month announced a ban on devices larger than a smartphone in carry-on baggage on flights from eight countries in the Middle East region, including the UAE.
India is a critical market for Gulf airlines. Their expansion efforts have been strongly focused on the subcontinent, as rising incomes are leading to Indians taking more trips abroad. With a population of more than 1.2 billion, India has enormous scope for growth in travel demand.
Domestic air travel demand grew 23 per cent last year, according to the International Air Transport Association. International traffic demand grew at a record 8.3 per cent for Asian airlines overall last year, Iata says.
Qatar Airways is planning an aggressive expansion of capacity into India, including starting up its own airline there as it seeks to take on Etihad Airways and Emirates.
However, a clear trend of a drop-off in business has already emerged following the laptop ban. Emirates last week made cuts to five of its services to the US, stating that the electronics ban, as well as steps taken by the US government, such as the issuance of visas, had dampened demand.
Jet Airways, which has one of the biggest shares of the overall Indian air travel market, indicated in a statement to The National that its growth plans for the region would continue unabated.
“Jet Airways remains committed to the Gulf region,” the carrier said. “Together with our strategic partner Etihad Airways, we are the dominant carriers, both in terms of market and capacity share. Our growth plans for the Gulf region remain unchanged. We have consistently increased capacity into selected Gulf routes of between 5 to 6 per cent per annum over the past years, and will continue to do so in this new financial year.”
Abu Dhabi’s Etihad owns a 24 per cent stake in Jet.
Amid the laptop ban, an expansion this month of Jet’s codeshare partnership with Virgin Atlantic is, however, helping the Indian carrier appeal to travellers to the US. The move means that Jet, which flies to the US via Abu Dhabi, can offer its passengers the option of flying through London Heathrow and then on to the US with Virgin as an alternative.
Jet passengers travelling between India and the US can now connect through London to nine US destinations on flights operated by Virgin, including Miami, New York and San Francisco, it said.
Yuvraj Aman Singh, the founder and chief executive of Rocking Deals, a Delhi-based online electronics store, said the electronics ban had deterred him from flying via the Gulf to the US because he liked being able to work while flying, especially given how long the flights were.
However, the Virgin tie-up means he would prefer travelling with Jet to the US over any other airlines.
“I like the Virgin Atlantic lounge in the UK,” said the frequent traveller to the US, typically flying first and business class.
Jet, when asked about how its agreement with Virgin would help it to bypass the laptop ban on flights going through the Gulf, simply said: “It has been our constant endeavour to provide guests to and from India with multiple travel options.”
Mahesh Shirodkar, the managing director of Tamarind Global, a travel and destination management company, based in Mumbai, said airlines such as Jet are being forced to find strategies to combat the impact of the laptop ban.
“This new absurd rule has obviously propelled demand on airlines flying out of transatlantic hubs and not the Middle Eastern airports.”
Mr Shirodkar said that he expected other Middle East carriers to follow Emirates’ move and cut capacity to the US.
“Middle East airlines in the long run need to examine alternatives to woo lost passengers to retain their market share to the USA,” he said.
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