TravTalk India Online Magazine
Oman Air’s new Chief Commercial Officer, Paul Starrs, was in India recently to meet the airline’s top agency partners and discuss new routes and strategies for the India market. In an interview with TRAVTALK, he talks about his perception of the market and how he plans to tap its potential.
Hazel Jain
Oman Air recently organised exclusive networking evenings in New Delhi, Hyderabad and Mumbai to introduce its new Chief Commercial Officer, Paul Starrs, to its top agent partners. Owners of key companies like Akbar Travels, Creative Tours & Travels, Riya Travel & Tours, Veena World and Trust Travels & Tours attended to welcome Starrs. Even associations like TAAI and TAFI made an appearance.
Oman – A weekend getaway
Starrs has re-joined the airline about four months ago after a gap of five years. After studying the current tourism landscape of India, he has suggested a new idea to promote the airline in India. “Why can’t Oman become a weekend destination for India? We already fly to 11 cities here,” he asked the audience.
“Oman Air is growing and we ask the trade here to continue to support us. We also need to grow the number of visitors to Oman from India. So the question I have been asking while in India is – why can’t Oman be a popular long weekend destination from India, or even as a stopover for a couple of days for people travelling to Europe to see and explore the destination? It is only a couple of hours away and maybe not as well-known as some of the other places in the Gulf area. So we are keen to have it as a weekend destination from India,” Starrs adds.
The importance of the India market for Oman Air is reflected in the fact that 11 of the total of 53 points are in India. Some of them have one flight a day while some have three a day
India as a market
He views India as a market with huge potential. “We are definitely interested in flying to more places in India. Its importance is reflected in the fact that 11 of the total of 53 points are in India; so it represents an important part of our network and I believe the continued economic development of India will open up many more cities. We also see a growth of local carriers coming into the India market,” he says optimistically.
Oman Air flies daily from all 11 points in India. Some of them have one flight a day while some have three flights a day. The airline also works closely with the Oman tourism board wherever it operates to encourage more tourist movement to Oman.
“During my visit to India, I had encouraging talks with the travel trade about Oman as a destination. We are seeing strong growth from India to our European network as well. So now it is about encouraging some of those customers to stop over in Oman. We are taking this up with various travel agents here in India and the associations,” Starrs says.
New points in the network
After the recent additions to its network (see box), Oman Air is looking to add some points in Africa next year. Starrs reveals, “We may also look at a few other places in Europe too. We also want to add to the 11 cities in India. Unfortunately, we do not have the rights to – we are currently at the limit of our bilaterals so we are looking forward to discussions with the relevant government departments. We can then hopefully get access to more points in India.”
If he had a magic wand and could use it to add one more Indian city, which one would it be? “Ahmedabad,” he is quick to answer.
The airline recently celebrated its 25th anniversary over 25 days and as a gesture to the trade, it gave away 25 tickets to agencies for destinations that they sell.
New Routes
- Oman Air has recently started two new routes – to Istanbul on June 1 an to Casablanca on July 1. It is also slated to start Moscow operations from October 28 as well as Maldives later this year. While Istanbul and Moscow will be served by Oman Air’s Boeing 737-800, Casablanca will be served by 787-8.
