The pandemic had forced many to defer their plans for leisure travel. The release of the pent-up demand following normalisation of the Covid situation is driving the rise in the number of air passengers in India, an official of Etihad Airways said in Kolkata on Monday.
The airline resumed its Kolkata-Abu Dhabi flight on Sunday, three years after the Covid outbreak forced the UAE-based airline to snap the link between the two cities.
“There is a lot of pent-up demand for travel which is getting released. Mostly there is an increase in family travel,” said Salil Nath, general manager, Etihad Airways, Indian subcontinent.
“In 2019, $7 billion was spent by Indians on foreign travel. In 2022, between April and December, $10 billion was spent.”
Nath said it was difficult to predict how long the release of the pent-up demand would keep fuelling international travel.
Tour operators and officials of other airlines said once the demand plateaued and starting ebbing, airlines would have to depend on business travellers. That would mark the start of a challenging phase for the airlines because post-Covid corporate travel has been far from encouraging.
“International fares are high on most routes, despite that flight seats are getting filled up because of the release of the pent-up demand. Families and big groups are travelling. However, this trend is unlikely to sustain in the international sector. Once the demand for leisure travel drops, airlines have to depend on high-yield corporate passengers. That will be a big challenge,” said an official of another international airline with Kolkata links.
“Most corporate houses have cut down travel by their executives to reduce cost.... So, airlines will have to adapt to the changes again.”
According to tour operators, business travel from Kolkata has never been promising. Now, it’s even worse.
At least for now, airlines and tour operators said, international air travel from Kolkata is on a growth path.
“Apart from leisure travel, a large number of people are flying out to meet friends and relatives, which they could not do during the pandemic,” said Manav Soni, chairman, Travel Agents Association of India, eastern region.
“Many people prefer to travel on Etihad Airways from Kolkata to the US because of the pre-arrival immigration clearance at the Abu Dhabi airport.”
Etihad Airways, which had not resumed services between Kolkata and Abu Dhabi even after the resumption of international commercial flights, now operates from the city four days a week — Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays.
The airline is operating an Airbus A320 with eight business and 150 economy class seats.
According to Nath, the airline is witnessing a high demand from Kolkata for flying onward from Abu Dhabi to destinations such as London and New York, as well as other Gulf cities, during the forthcoming summer vacation.
“Post-Covid, we have introduced several facilities at the Abu Dhabi International Airport for transit passengers,” said Nath.
One of these is a free stay at a three-star hotel for 48 hours and free visa for Abu Dhabi for the duration of the stay.
“Passengers who have to wait long hours for a connecting flight or those who want to spend some time in Abu Dhabi before an onward journey can avail themselves of the facility,” he said.
The passengers are given a list of hotels to choose from. Transfers and meals are not included in the offer, said the official.
The Abu Dhabi airport also introduced facial recognition technology to help passengers flying to New York to clear immigration. The facility is tested at the United States Customs and Border Protection at the airport for flights to New York as a pilot project, said the Etihad official.