Australia signs Open Skies agreement with India

[Mattg]

Well Vistara has just ordered 6 Boeing 787-9s. What are the chances that some of these will fly to Australia?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Well Vistara has just ordered 6 Boeing 787-9s. What are the chances that some of these will fly to Australia?

Dunno! But i’d certainly give them a go. Heard good things about them for domestic travel.

 

[daft009]

Not sure how true this is, but I heard vistara (private) was only allowed to join star alliance if air India (govt) was also allowed to join

 

[Scarlett]

There's plenty of wealth at the top end in India - and even a small percentage = large number of potential pax. That said, the middle class is (as I understand it) still a huge area of potential growth but it hasn't quite taken off as expected, so that's probably a limiting factor.

This!

Just look at the raw numbers. Let’s say the middle and proper wealthy class is 10-20% (I think it’s higher than that) of the population. That’s from a Billion people. So a potential market of 4 to 8 times the entire population of Australia! With some decent marketing that is a potential goldmine.
It’s a lot like the Indonesian market: a middle class of 50 million people in the next few years. Companies can ignore those markets at their peril.

I think we’ll see a situation much like the explosion of airlines and visitors from China in the 2020-2030 period, except it will be from India.

 

[daft009]

Air India is already in Star Alliance though?

Air India joined in 2014. Vista started in 2015

 

[MEL_Traveller]

This!

Just look at the raw numbers. Let’s say the middle and proper wealthy class is 10-20% (I think it’s higher than that) of the population. That’s from a Billion people. So a potential market of 4 to 8 times the entire population of Australia! With some decent marketing that is a potential goldmine.
It’s a lot like the Indonesian market: a middle class of 50 million people in the next few years. Companies can ignore those markets at their peril.

I think we’ll see a situation much like the explosion of airlines and visitors from China in the 2020-2030 period, except it will be from India.

But that dun mean they wanna come to Australia. Business is expensive here. Shopping is expensive. Accommodation and food are expensive. From India you can be in Europe in 2/3rds the time. You can be at pristine beaches in the in a couple of hours.

 

[RooFlyer]

Goodness if I had this thread before my recent trip to India I may not have flown AI in whY

As it happens, two domestic flights, both perfectly comfortable and 'normal' - and cheap.

 

[Paddingtontraveller]

I've been amazed there aren't more flights between Sydney and India. It's potentially a rapidly growing market. A growing middle class and an huge increase in the number of migrants in Australia from India. I love India as a holiday destination but have avoided Air India (perhaps unfairly) and used Singapore Airlines or Qantas/Jet Airways via either Singapore or Bangkok. It would be great if QF flew from Sydney to Delhi.

 

[hrs027]

I flew the AI dreamliner 787 to Paris when it was introduced. The hard product was comfortable with flat beds while the soft product was just acceptable in comparison. I strongly wish TATA took over AI and yes a direct connection to Indian cities would definitely be welcomed.
I was excited with the news of UL's direct flights to MEL. Jet airways is only focused on domestic routes. Either AI needs complete revamping right from ownership/management or an alternate airline to start services. But sadly, there are no strong alternate airlines that are international.

 

[dajop]

I've been amazed there aren't more flights between Sydney and India. It's potentially a rapidly growing market. A growing middle class and an huge increase in the number of migrants in Australia from India.

Melbourne actually has a higher Indian migrant population than Sydney. Herein lies the rub, do you fly from MEL or SYD? Or both (like AI do)? And to which Indian city?

 

[Paddingtontraveller]

I took a short domestic flight with Vistara last year - they were excellent. It would certainly be interesting if they were to fly to Australia. The Government is having a lot of problems trying to sell Air India. I don't think it makes any money and comes with a lot of debt.