TravTalk India Online Magazine
Having made a comeback in India after eight years with a Delhi-Rome flight last year, Alitalia is now planning expansion in India, reveals the airline’s global team in an exclusive interaction with TravTalk.
Nisha Verma
India is a growing aviation market and is thus a great opportunity for Alitalia, said Nicola Bonacchi, Vice President—Leisure Sales, Alitalia. “In terms of our plans in this market, our first target is to cross first year of the Delhi-Rome flight with a good result. The load factor is around 82 per cent. We want to push the business class to achieve the target, increase capacity and evaluate a new destination by adding Mumbai to our network. We have 24 bilaterals between Italy and India, and there is space for more flights and hence we are looking at Mumbai,” he revealed.
Bonacchi added that the airline is currently targeting a Passenger Load Factor of 90-95 per cent, and is taking several steps to reach that mark. “This growth will not only be driven by India but also by European and Italian markets. We are also working with agencies to feed the flight to Delhi currently. With an existing codeshare with Jet Airways, we are evaluating other carriers to bring passengers to Delhi and make them fly abroad with our flights,” he claimed.
Massimo Allegri, Regional General Manager, Alitalia, believes that India is a very important and challenging market in the Asia Pacific region. Talking about the airline’s strategy for India, Allegri said, “Our approach is to have a dedicated service in India like we have for other countries. The focus is to offer a great onboard service because we have a dedicated menu and food for the Indian market.”
Aircraft upgradation is also in the offing. “If the Indian market continues with its loyalty with Alitalia, we can increase the frequencies or change the aircraft with higher capacity,” he added.
Fabio Bigotti, Country Manager—India, Alitalia, has previously worked in the Indian market. “For me, this is the return because I have already been here as a country manager in 2003. While we have a good load factor currently, we are working to have a profitable line. Hence, we are working specially on the high yield passengers as well as with the travel trade. All agents in India are our partners. We have a strong team based in Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai and Kolkata. We have also recently employed new staff for the Punjab region. Our aim is to maintain good relations with trade and have good results from India,” he added.
Bonacchi added, “I have a very good feedback from the market and we want the trade market to represent for us about 65 per cent. We also have incentives and commission for our trade partners who get good business for the airline.”
Bigotti also revealed that they have invested a good budget in marketing activities in India and will do a huge campaign in the end of October. “This will be our third campaign in India. We have done a commendable job in roadshows in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata in cooperation with ENIT—The Italian tourism board in India and the Italian embassy,” he shared.
