TravTalk India Online Magazine
Korean Air completed a year of its successful operations in Delhi recently. The airline celebrated the occasion with its travel trade partners over an evening of cocktails and dinner.
TT BUREAU
Raising a toast to one year of Korean Air’s operations in New Delhi, Pukhraj Singh Chug, Managing Director, Acumen Overseas, GSA for Korean Air in India, claimed that it has been a very successful year for them. “While Korean Air has completed one year since we launched its services to Delhi, the Mumbai connection has been servicing the route for 22 years now. The last one year has been very successful and we are looking forward to many more such years to follow. We are focusing on establishing this network further,” he added.
Commenting on the challenges they faced, Sang Wook Han, Regional Manager Delhi, India, Korean Air, said, “It was a very challenging job to establish the new branch office in Delhi as the market here is more competitive than Mumbai. Since e-commerce is on growing trajectory in India, we plan to focus more on online travel agents and conduct our promotions online as well. We are seeing an increasing demand for Korea year on year, and depending on the market dynamics we will align Korean Air’s marketing strategy accordingly.”
Chug agreed that the Delhi market is more competitive than their much established Mumbai market. However, he said that the last one year has been very positive. “The first year of service in Delhi has been very promising. We are much more effective in our promotions and sales efforts as compared to our competitors. Currently, the route between Delhi and Korea is clocking over 80 per cent load factor,” he shared.
The last year has been successful and we look forward to many more such years. We are focusing on establishing this network further -Pukhraj Singh Chug Managing
“There is an increased interest by Korean corporates in India. India as a destination is also high on priority for investment by Korean companies. The bulk of travellers on our flights are Koreans travelling back home from India. New segments of travel have emerged from India to Korea like MICE. An increased number of corporate travellers are flying between India and Korea. Leisure has been an added advantage as some of the destinations like Jeju Island have done well in India. Our focus is to bring Korea as a destination to the India diaspora,” added Chug.
We are seeing an increasing demand for Korea and depending on the market dynamics, we will align Korean Air’s marketing strategy accordingly – Sang Wook Han Regional Manager
Even the travel trade has shown their support to Korean Air, asserted Chug. “We have received a very warm response from the travel trade fraternity. There is zero tolerance for pending issues and the same are resolved at the earliest,” he insisted. Currently, Korean Air operates five weekly flights between Delhi and Korea, and three weekly flights from Mumbai to the destination. Commenting on adding more flights in the future, he said, “Depending on various factors like bilateral relations and business development, we will expand the services to other cities. We are currently focusing on the market in Delhi.”
