Indian aviation industry is losing about Rs 6 crore (Rs 60 million) daily as none of the airlines in the country is operating at break-even prices, according to vice-president of the Travel Agents Association of India, C Venkateshwara Prasad.
In view of this, Prasad expects a consolidation in the country's aviation industry in the future. "Eventually, we will have three or four players which will come under the full service category and an additional three or four players in the budget category," he said in Hyderabad on Wednesday.
Addressing a press conference to announce the details of the three-day Indian Travel Congress to be held here from September 1, Prasad said most of the airlines in India were still in a nascent stage and new players were entering the field even before the existing ones became mature enough to earn profits. Added to this were rising fuel costs leading to losses.
"This is a big challenge and the airlines should get more people to fly," he said, adding that the current size of air travel industry in the country was estimated at Rs 25,000 crore (Rs 250 billion) per annum.
He said the theme of the three-day convention and exhibition would be 'The Future is Now' and it would reflect the current scenario and debate several issues facing the travel industry. Over 1,500 delegates, including airline chiefs, hotel industry majors and international participants are expected to take part in the event.
Some of the prominent speakers at the convention would be UB Group Chairman Vijay Mallya, Senior Vice-President of Boeing Dinesh Keskar, Chairman and Managing Director of Indian V Trivedi, Managing Director of Air Deccan G R Gopinath, Chairman and Managing Director of Air-India V Tulasidas, Chief Operating Officer of Jet Airways Larry Kingshot, Chief Executive Officer of Indigo Bruce Ashby, and Managing Director of GMR Infrastructure Kiran Grandhi.
The congress is expected to be inaugurated by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy. The valedictory function would be addressed by the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha L K Advani.
