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Khursheed Lam, Manager - India and South Asia holds the distinction of being the first lady Country Manager of a foreign airline in South Asia. Here she shares with us information about the return of Qantas back in India and the fast growth in passenger traffic between India & Australia.

What are your areas of responsibilities as Manager-India and South Asia?
As the commercial head of Qantas Airways in this region, I am responsible for the sales and marketing of the airline in India, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh.

When did you enter the Aviation Industry and how did you go about it?
I began my career in aviation with Qantas Airways, in 1980. Prior to that, I was a market research consultant.

This is the second innings of Qantas in India after having stopped operations some years ago? What are the new strategies this time round and how Qantas has moved ahead in promoting its carrier and Australia?
Qantas' strategy is to promote the new and unique non-stop service connecting Mumbai with Sydney, thrice a week. Excellent timings enable passenger feed at both ends of the route. For those who prefer to travel from their home ports to Australia via South East Asia, we continue to offer connections with our expanding group of partner airlines, operating to Singapore, Bangkok and Hong Kong.

Australia is perceived as an expensive destination compared to Far East and even at times considered expensive than travelling to Europe. How do you plan changing this image and making Australia an affordable destination in the coming months?
Qantas is working very closely with Tourism Australia to change this perception and mind-set, through focussed advertising and below-the-line promotions which reinforce the concept of Australia as a very cost-effective and affordable destination.

How do you see the tourist traffic growth from Mumbai to Australia and to New Zealand?
Travel to both these countries has witnessed double-digit growth over the last couple of years, and it is my view this momentum will continue, with more services and improved connectivity.

What way is Qantas playing a role in promoting tourism to Australia?
As mentioned earlier, Qantas and Tourism Australia work in close partnership, to jointly promote tourism to Australia, through specific trade and media-related events and consumer promotions. Qantas also works closely with Tourism New Zealand, as our services offer some of the fastest routes to New Zealand.

What role will internet play in the airline industry?
The internet enables a large, world-wide audience to communicate almost instantly with an airline, be it for general information, schedules, fares or making online bookings. As with any company in the travel, tourism and hospitality industries, airlines too can benefit from reaching out to a much wider customer base.

Take the Qantas website : www.qantas.com for example.It is one of the world's most comprehensive travel sites. With more than 5.5 million visits each month, it is Australia's most popular travel site.

Around 30% of domestic bookings are made online. The website offers the lowest available Qantas fares, real time schedules and flight-status information, access to the latest Qantas offers, a booking facility for hotels, cars and holidays, information on duty-free shopping and inflight entertainment, special section for the company's latest media releases, and investor information. Frequent Flyer members can access the dedicated site for a host of functions relating to their bookings, account and points updates, redemption tickets, etc.

What are the destinations that Qantas flies to/from India?
At present Qantas flies non-stop between Mumbai and Sydney. From our Sydney hub, we carry our passengers to any domestic point on our extensive Australian network, or onward to New Zealand and Fiji.

What are the challenges you will be facing in the coming months and how do you plan to strategize to overcome them ?
Qantas announced a record half-yearly result for JUL-DEC'04, despite rising fuel prices and fare wars that put strong downward pressure on yield. This was achievable through a hedging of fuel rates, fuel surcharges, reduction in unit costs and growth in the flying businesses, both passenger and freight.We will continue to coordinate network and capacity, while delivering the appropriate products, services and economics to suit each market segment.

The peak tourist traffic in Australia is from November onwards, however in India it is normally between April and June. How do you plan to continue encouraging tourist traffic out of India after July ?
Australia being a southern hemisphere destination, we are very fortunate to have two important peak seasons for tourist traffic : NOV-FEB, which is summer Down Under, and APR-JUN which is the Indian outbound holiday season. From JUL to OCT, we focus our attention on students, migrants, visiting friends & relatives (VFR) and the growing MICE segment.

How has the student traffic grown over the years and what are the incentives given by Qantas to those pursuing higher studies or even travelling on immigration to Australia?
Australia draws the third highest number of students from India, and these numbers continue to grow steadily, year-on-year. To support this very valued segment of our business, students travelling with Qantas are offered a “StudentConnect” Kit to help them settle into their new life very quickly. The kit provides a two-year membership to a student fraternity, a very useful guide on Australia, and some attractive offers, discounts and value-ads, including enhanced baggage allowance.

Roughly how many people travel to Australia out of India and what is the projected growth in the future?
Australia draws more than 75000 Indians annually. This number is growing at a steady rate of 16-18%.

Currently from which cities in India does Qantas fly into Australia and what are the plans for expanding the network?
Although Qantas flies only to Mumbai currently, the airline continues to evaluate prospects for services to other points in India.

Tell us something about your frequent flyer programme and benefits of the OneWorld alliance that you offer the frequent traveller.
The Qantas Frequent Flyer program is the largest Australia-based airline loyalty program, with more than 4 million members. Members accumulate points through flying with Qantas and its 28

Frequent Flyer international and domestic airline partners, including ONEWORLD alliance airlines. Points are awarded according to the class of travel, membership tier and miles flown and may also be accumulated through qualifying transactions with a number of Program Partners including more than 4,000 hotels around the world as well as Hertz, Avis, Budget and Thrifty car rental, Telstra Telecard and Travelex Foreign Exchange.

Points earned in the credit card loyalty programs of Diners Club, American Express and the ANZ Frequent Flyer Visa and selected programs of a number of banks (such as CBA, NAB, AMP, Citibank, Westpac, St George, SunCorp) may be converted to Qantas Frequent Flyer points. Members who accumulate higher levels of Status credits within a year are granted Silver, Gold or Platinum status. At each status level, members receive extra service benefits, including higher priority service numbers, check-in, baggage allowances, and for Platinum and Gold members, complimentary entrance to the Qantas Club. Eligible Frequent Flyer members also have access to oneworld Alliance lounges. Frequent Flyer points can be redeemed for air travel on Qantas and partner airlines, hotel stays, car hire companies and by using a combination of dollars and points at the Qantas Frequent Flyer Store.

ONEWORLD is the leading alliance of quality airlines with an incomparable international route network. Qantas' oneworld partners include some of the world's leading airlines - American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Iberia, LAN, Finnair, and Aer Lingus. Oneworld provides services to 575 destinations in 135 countries.

Last year, oneworld member airlines carried more than 220 million passengers (equivalent to one in 30 of the world's population), flew some 2.25 billion miles (equivalent to around 12 return trips to the sun) and operated nearly three million flights. A oneworld flight departs or lands somewhere in the world every five seconds on average. Customers can earn and redeem frequent flyer awards and tier points on eligible fares throughout the oneworld network with all airlines in the alliance and enjoy their frequent flyer privileges across 390 lounges worldwide for top tier card holders.

The alliance's members also work together to make travel across their combined networks as smooth as possible. Oneworld offers an unrivalled choice of tickets including its popular Explorer round-the-world fare and its Visit passes for each continent. It is also the first of the global alliances to commit to full e-ticket interlining between its partners. More details are available at www.oneworld.com

How do you see the tourism traffic and its potential in the future?
With the growing awareness of Australia as an attractive, value-for-money destination, it has gained wider appeal among tourists from India, especially those that have already visited UK and Europe and are looking for new destinations. Consequently, we see continued robust growth in both tourism traffic as well as VFR who often extend their stay with travel in and around Australia.

As a widely travelled person which is your favourite destination ?
My favourite destination in India is Kashmir I have travelled there through peaceful and troubled times, but it continues to fascinate me. In Australia, I always love to visit the Whitsunday Islands, off the east coast of Queensland. Give me the serenity and natural beauty of the countryside any time!

What have been the achievements of Qantas since its relaunch in India?
We have re-established ourselves in less than a year, and are clearly identified as the airline that knows Australia best. We will continue to be the dominant player in the Australia-destined market.

On your personal side, tell us about your family, hobbies, likes and dislikes?
My husband and I enjoy travel. We are both very busy with our respective careers, but we always ensure we make time to travel together atleast once a year, to explore new places.

I enjoy art and music, and we ensure that we take in special shows or events in each location that we visit.

What is your advice to career aspirants who wish to enter the airline industry?
Forget the notion that this is a glamourous career! The industry is technology-driven and is constantly changing and evolving. It is a highly competitive business, where survival of the fittest takes on a whole new meaning! It's an exciting industry, and I've enjoyed the roller-coaster ride over the last 25 years!

(Fly Qantas directly to Sydney and also into New Zealand.)