Tourism Australia eyes direct India flights
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Tourism Australia has been talking to airlines in India over the possibility of launching direct services to between the two countries. Tourism between Australia and India has suffered as a result of the lack of direct air links, but the national tourism board’s Managing Director, Andrew McEvoy (pictured above) told media at the PATA Travel Mart in New Delhi today that Tourism Australia’s 10-year plan to boost Indian arrivals should encourage carriers to commence services to Australia. McEvoy predicted that as part of Australia’s ‘Vision 2020’ plan to double tourist spending, Indian tourism expenditure in Australia would jump 192% over the next 10 years to AU$2.4 billion (US$2.5 billion), generated by some 300,000 visitors.
“We believe this growth will encourage airlines to fly non-stop [between India and Australia],” McEvoy said.
McEvoy also revealed that he met with Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airlines a day earlier, to discuss the connectivity issue. Jet currently codeshares with Qantas on flights between Indian and Singapore, while Kingfisher is expected to become a oneworld alliance partner of the Australian carrier next year. While the two airlines have no existing plans to launch direct flights, expanded cooperation on distribution and frequent flyer programmes is being discussed.
Air India has also previously said it plans to resume direct flights to Australia, and the idea is expected to be revisited once the national carrier receives its long-awaited Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft.
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