American Low Cost Carrier (LCC) Alaska Airlines has enjoyed 12 per cent year on year growth for the last few years from India. According to SK Mittal, Executive Director, ETA Travel Agency, which is Alaska Airline’s GSA in India, the airline ferries 1,200 Indians to the destination every month, with the numbers rising to 2,000-2,500 during the peak season between April and July. He further added that Bengaluru a big market for the airline.
“Travellers from India to Alaska are on the rise, and we have seen several varied segments of tourists coming in. The country sends 200-300 soldiers on Air India for combat training in Fairbank, which adds to numbers. There are also good universities in Alaska, so we see a lot of student traffic. Business travellers also increasing owing to Alaska’s oil industries. And finally, expat Americans in India also travel via Alaska Airlines. Traffic is growing. It earlier grew by 25 per cent, and recently by 12 per cent, which has been the average growth year on year,” revealed Mittal.
Speaking with T3 on the sidelines of its recently concluded product presentation in association with Visit Anchorage and Alaska Travel Industry Association, Susan McKenzie, Manager Charter, Group & International Sales, Alaska Airlines stated that they have recorded a healthy growth in numbers coming in from India via codeshare partner airlines.
“My personal opinion is that, from the western world, coming into India is easiest via Emirates. With only a three and a half hour layover in Dubai, it’s the perfect connection, and the flights go into several cities across India,” she opined.
When asked about considering Air India as a codeshare partner to boost numbers, Mittal mentioned that the airline used to have the national carrier as a codeshare partner, but the ties have been severed. “We don’t know their policies, but we believe they should be one of our partners. We also had Jet Airways on board, but that got cancelled as well since the airline does not fly into US any more. If Etihad operates to the country, then maybe, through their partnership, we can rekindle that agreement,” he concluded.
