PANJIM: The decision by Jet airways to launch a direct flight from the state to Abu Dhabi has brought much joy to people of Goa. However questions remain whether there is adequate business from within the state for destinations in the gulf and beyond.
Shaji Thomas of Qatar Airways said the market was clear at present. He said “It is a 70-30 market with the larger share of tickets purchased by people who are visiting and the smaller percentages by people within the state. The state depends on tourism which brings a substantial number of tourists from Europe and beyond” asked specifically where the tickets were being booked he said it was mainly the Scandinavian countries followed by the UK and other European countries.
There were he said six flights to London from Doha everyday which resulted in quite a few English tourists using the airline while flying out of the country. Given that Qatar Airways, Jet Airways, Air India and Air Arabia had flights from Goa, people interested in flying out to the Gulf and beyond have approximately 769 seats on average everyday, Air India has four flights a week while the others fly everyday.
Since the service commenced he claimed the flights were running full. During the monsoons it was running at 70% capacity. Now with the season on he said many of the tourists who had come in now would leave in January or February thus guaranteeing the flights flying out at capacity.
Jet which recently launched a direct flight to Abu Dhabi from Goa in a statement to the Herald revealed that the Gulf was an important market for the airline with over 50 flights a day from multiple Indian cities including Goa. Given that with this flight now from Goa, passengers from the state as well as from North Kanara districts could be expected to use this service.
With regards to promoting tourism Goa was an important tourist destination and an emerging market with one of the highest GDP per capita in the country catering to Indian and international tourists alike throughout the year. Guests would now be able to enjoy the advantage of direct convenient connections from their home town to Abu Dhabi and beyond to over 140 international destinations including North America, Europe, Africa and destinations within Gulf. The airline expected a growth of 50 per cent, especially to Dubai and Kuwait, with direct flights and affordable fares. With regards to the European Union however it would be largely inbound traffic, excluding London and Lisbon. These two destinations were a major outbound market out of Goa and the airline expected a substantial growth in the coming months.
For travel agencies in the state the start of the Jet Airways flight was a welcome move and would be another option for passengers flying out of the state. A senior official of Akbar Travels said the state was a 70:30 market and that would stay like that for a while. Another owner of a travel agency said that with the market experiencing a down turn this year to the tune of approximately 30% having the option was fine but not many people from the state were flying out unless they had jobs in the gulf which usually meant tickets were usually booked at the destination.
The reactions from those from whom this service was intended was mixed. Vito Gomes a resident of Talegao and Founder and Managing Director of Aviation Services management Ltd said the flights were at an odd hour which would make it difficult for a traveller. Asked if he would prefer to fly from Mumbai due to the lower cost of the ticket from that destination he said “I will still fly via Mumbai as the flight is from Abu Dhabi and not from Dubai (I live in Dubai). I don’t know if any arrangements are made to transport passengers from Dubai to Abu Dhabi as it will take minimum of 1 and half hours road travel time.”
Asked if he thought this service would be popular with Goans who were generally conscious of their expenditure he felt it was a bit too early to comment though costing and convenience would be main factors.
Another Goan staying in Dubai Zinette Fernandes , Legal council, ME at ITS felt it was a much awaited and welcoming news for the considerable Goan population living within the Abu Dhabi Emirate. Secondly, it would perhaps be a convenient transit point for people travelling from Goa to various other international destinations. However, my answer to your question, “whether I would use this service”? is – No. I have been living in Dubai since last 14 years and this is unfortunately not an exceptionally convenient option that I would personally look at, and this for two reasons the fares of Jet Airways are undoubtedly and customarily inflated vis-à-vis other airlines/ options and the travel time between Dubai and Abu Dhabi is approx between 70-90 mins depending on traffic (For example: Flights via Air Arabia are much cheaper in comparison and in addition, travel time to Sharjah form Dubai is approximately 30 mins)”. she went on to say that currently the significant Goan population living in “Dubai” had one option for direct flight from Dubai to Goa ie Air India which resulted in very high fares. She said it would be a dream come true for the community in Dubai to have a private airline operating direct flights from Dubai- Goa and vice versa, where people will essentially benefit the effects of fair pricing mechanism, due to competition.
This argument was put forward by Shaji Thomas who said that given the low capacities from Goa it would mean that rates would be higher when compared to Mumbai or Delhi or Bangalore. That would certainly change in the years to come with more competition with airlines inaugurating direct flights from Goa and ensuring that rates would be slashed.
Till then perhaps it will still be a mixed blessing.
