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Global
airlines see-saw on code sharing with Air India
Kailash
Rajwadkar
Mumbai, Oct 17: Even as few international airlines
are in the process of withdrawing their code-sharing arrangements
with Air-India, a few others like Emirates and Malaysia Airlines
appear to have gained ground. Emirates and Malaysian Airlines
had doubled their capacity last year following the code-sharing
agreement with Air-India.
| Malev, KLM in
pact to increase code sharing |
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Our Corporate Bureau
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| New Delhi, Oct 17: Malev and
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines have signed a framework agreement
on expanding the existing codeshare cooperation on flights,
linking loyalty programmes and sharing marketing and sales
activities in selective markets. The agreement, which
was signed by Dutch minister of economic affairs Annemarie
Jorritsma and the Hungarian minister of the prime minister’s
office Dr Istvan Stumpf. |
Travellers to and from India are now finding
it convenient and cost-effective to fly to San Francisco from
Kuala Lumpur and from Dubai to Zurich or any other European
destination. This follows the cancellation of direct flights
from India by international airlines. Besides, Kuala Lumpur
is being promoted as a shopping destination, on the lines
of Dubai, sources in the travel trade said.
The message is very clear. With additional
capacity at one end and reduced traffic, not all airlines
are likely to survive, sources said.
However, this has not deterred Air-India from going ahead
with entering into more code-sharing arrangements. The Maharaja
is likely to ink a pact for code-sharing with Thai Airways
before the end of the month, though there’s no official confirmation
on this.
The fear that Air-India’s fortunes might be affected on issuing
bilateral flying rights to international airlines last year
too, has been nullified following the decline in the revenue
earning potential of other airlines, sources said. Sources
in the travel trade said that Swiss Air with five flights
a week each from Mumbai and Delhi to Zurich is likely to withdraw
the code-sharing arrangement with Air-India. This is likely
to be followed by Scandinavian Airlines which too flies five
flights a week from Delhi toCopenhagen, sources said.
Code-sharing arrangements are ideal to ensure the airline’s
presence and the addition of capacity in new markets without
deploying aircrafts. Air-India, which has 17 code-sharing
arrangements with 12 airlines, had off-late increased its
market access through code-sharing arrangements and the revenue
from these arrangements is around Rs 100 crore.
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