"We are planning a daily service shortly and keeping a close watch on the numbers," Rob Gurney, head of sales and marketing, told a visiting group of journalists in the airline's sprawling headquarters in downtown Sydney.
Qantas is the only airline to have a direct flight between the two cities. The flying time is eleven and a half hours, which Gurney said, was just about enough for "two Bollywood movies and dinner" on board the aircraft.
The airline, which has entered into a reciprocal relationship with Jet Airways, is now waiting for the latter to start its operations to Singapore from Delhi, to tap the growing number of passengers from the capital to the Australian cities.
The reciprocal relationship allows their frequent flyer programme members to earn and redeem miles when travelling with either airline. However, a non-stop flight from Delhi to any of the Australian city was not on the cards right now, Gurney said.
Qantas has a 30 per cent share of the total inbound airline traffic from Australia. The share of the airline in the total business travel segment between the two countries is 14 per cent.
Though Qantas was not making any money right now on its operations to and from India, Gurney said the airline intended to continue with its "developmental pricing" for some more time as the potential was limitless.
The India traffic, for example, has grown by over 25 per cent in the last one year. "The growth has been phenomenal and with the open skies policy in place, the aviation sector is going through a boom right now, which is the right time to woo tourists," he said.
In September 2005 alone, 5,400 visitors travelled from India to Australia, an increase of 28 per cent compared to the same period last year.
Overall, more than 63,800 visitors from India travelled to Sydney, Cairns and Melbourne among other destinations in the country. The Tourism Forecasting Council of Australia has estimated that the upward trend will continue over the next decade, with an estimated 147,800 visitors expected in 2012.
While the burgeoning trade relationship between Australia and India (India is now Australia's ninth largest export market) has increased the demand for business travel between the two countries, the tourism and education segments are also rising steadily.
The reason why Sydney was chosen for the direct flight to woo more and more Indian Down Under was the world famous Harbour Bridge and Opera House in the city apart from its close proximity to the Great Barrier Reef in Cairns.
Qantas is also working closely with the India Tourism offices all over the country to sell India as a "total tourism destination" to Australians.
Taking off
- The airline, which has entered into a reciprocal relationship with Jet Airways, is now waiting for the latter to start its operations to Singapore from Delhi
- The reciprocal relationship allows their frequent flyer programme members to earn and redeem miles when travelling with either airline.
- Qantas has a 30 per cent share of the total inbound airline traffic from Australia.
