The government of Western Australia has invited three Indian airlines to start nonstop flights to Perth.
Roger Cook, Deputy Premier, Western Australia, met with the top management of Air India, Vistara and Indigo and Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia during his visit to Mumbai and Delhi. He asked the airline to start nonstop flights from India to Perth and explore Perth as a potential market. Perth is getting ready to host the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup later this year and he said that there will a large influx of visitors during the World Cup.
Mr. Cook said:
I met Tata Group chairman N. Chandrasekaran and requested him to consider Perth as a route for Air India or Vistara which are part of the Tata Group. Our officials had also met with top executives of IndiGo.
He added that he has got positive feedback from these airlines. However, the common concern that all the three airlines are expressing is adequate load factor to make these flights sustainable in the long-run. He said once direct air connectivity is established, the number of travellers will rise sharply.
Presently, anybody who want to travel to Perth from India has to connect either in Singapore, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur if they are travelling with Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways and Malaysia Airlines respectively.
He said:
India remains a priority market for us. Following the return of international visitors to Western Australia, we have seen an influx of visitors from India with arrivals in May reaching more than 90% of pre-COVID levels, and forward bookings for July and August are even higher than before the pandemic. Securing a direct aviation route from India to Western Australia is a key aviation priority for the Western Australian Government, as it would create even more opportunities for tourism and investment in both destinations, while helping to reconnect visitors from India with their loved ones in Western Australia while providing a huge boost for travel and accommodation businesses.
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He added that more than 30,000 tourists visited Perth every year prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
He added:
Tourism Western Australia’s research indicates travellers from India are especially interested in nature and wildlife, stunning coastlines, beaches and marine wildlife, local cuisine and a family-friendly destination – Western Australia has all this to offer and much more.
Air India currently operates flights to Sydney and Melbourne with its Boeing B787-8 Dreamliners while Indigo, which currently does not have long-range aircraft that will be able to operate flights to Perth, could potentially be roped in for partnership agreements.
More than 7,00,000 Indian immigrants live in Australia, and Air India flew more than 182,000 passengers nonstop in either direction between the two countries in 2019.
In 2019, Singapore Airlines carried more passengers between India and Australia than any other airline.
In December 2021, Qantas launched flights to Delhi, connecting Sydney with Delhi again after more than 10 years. The demand is that much for travel between India and Australia that Qantas is launching flights from Sydney to Bengaluru, marking the first time that Southern India will be directing connected to Australia.
Featured image by Visit Australia
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