Mumbai: National carrier Air India (AI) is the latest to market itself via social networking site Facebook and micro-blogging site Twitter. The airline, which is aggressively pursuing an image makeover, is looking to enhance sales by at least 30% through these new forms of media. At present, an increasing number of domestic and international airlines are using the social media platform for brand promotion.

Says Arvind Jadhav, AI’s chairman and managing director, “Until now, we were unable to provide a flexible pricing and customised products to our customers. While other airlines have their presence on Facebook and Twitter, we were missing from that space.”

AI will henceforth have a corporate account on Facebook, where customers can book tickets and check their flight status. Public facing corporate blog on Twitter will help the airline to understand customer behaviour and redress complaints, if any.

International carriers like the US-based Delta Airlines and Southwest Airlines have...