TravTalk India Online Magazine
Mega Maldives Airlines has forayed into India with its thrice a week flight between Delhi and Male, and aims to boost its presence through its GSA, the Bird Group.
Announcing the new flight in Delhi, George Weinmann, CEO, Mega Maldives Airlines, said, “We are really excited that the ticket sales are going forward and is open through us as well as our partners in India for the non-stop flights from Delhi to Male.”
The Bird Group is the GSA for the airline in India. Weinmann elaborated, “The Bird Group is actually doing the free sale portion of our sales in India, which is the non-packaged side.” Weinmann is hoping for a good number of Indians flying to Maldives with the new connection. “We operate three flights a week and we have a decent number of passengers on these flights, which is around 150 or more. We will see the response in the next two months, as this is the peak time to go to the Maldives.”
He further said that the travel trade is an important part of their sales strategy in India. “One of the things that we know about Maldives is that it is a packaged destination. We design our fair structure and our distribution to partner with wholesalers, travel agencies and OTAs that do packaging in India. We really want to support all those who are preparing packages for the Maldives, where they combine both the flight and hotel, because that’s the strongest selling unit for the destination.”
He said that they have seen a great response for the flight, especially with the inaugural fares. “We have got some great prices for our flights. The travel trade has some special promotional price, which is very good. We have also launched a public price, where one can book the flight at `22,990 from Delhi to Male on Mega Maldives.”
When asked about their strategy for the India market, especially since many other airlines from the Maldives have shut shop in India, he said, “Firstly, the previous efforts to launch non-stop flights between Delhi and Male happened many years ago. The market has really grown over these years, and the number of people travelling between India and Maldives has dramatically changed. There is a lot more demand. The other thing is that our schedules are just right for the India market. Lastly, we have done a lot of work on distribution and have several partners, including the resort community and the travel trade.
