Interview with Amey Amladi - General Manager, Western and Southern India for AUSTRIAN AIRLINES

Amey had joined Austrian on January 16, 2005 as the Regional Sales Manager for Austrian Airlines for Western and Southern India. This September Austrian celebrates two years of its operation out of Mumbai and just as the airline has grown and become the preferred carrier for passengers heading to Europe especially to Central - Eastern Europe & US Destinations. Amey too has grown in these years as General Manager, Western and Southern India and here he shares with our readers the future plans of Austrian in the months to come.

How is the airline grown since the start of its operation in Mumbai?
Austrian started its operation in Mumbai with effect from September 1, 2005. Apart from the existing established West bound carriers we had a host of new airlines competing on our routes and the going was not easy. Thanks to the excellent support from the Travel Agents fraternity and Corporates coupled with an efficient and enthusiastic Reservation and Sales Team we registered a load factor of 67% in our first year of operations. Since then there was no looking back. We averaged 87% load factor in our second year of operation.

What are the USP offered by AUSTRIAN for the Indian travellers?
Austrian Airlines flies to over 130 destinations, covering 55 countries over 5 continents. In terms of USP we have an excellent midnight departure from Mumbai with an early morning arrival into Vienna with immediate onward connections to entire Europe especially Central and Eastern Europe and also convenient connections to New York, Washington, Chicago and Toronto. Our weekend departures are preferred by Corporates and transiting Vienna Airport is always considered a preferred option by most of our travellers. Apart from offering both Western and Indian Cuisine, we also provide Jain meals on- board and our flights do cater to our valued clients.

What have been the achievements of Austrian Airlines in the current year?
Recently Austrian Airlines was ranked as one of the top airlines of Europe in a survey carried out by German publication CAPITAL. In addition, Austrian has always been in the news as far as awards are concerned. This year our airline has been the recipient of several awards including
First Place - Best Business Class Catering 2007 - SkyTrax, 2007
First Place - Best Airlines of the year 2007 in Europe - Capital Magazine (Readers Survey)
First Place - Performance European Airlines Overall Business Traveller, 2007

What are the changes made in the Business Class flight on the Mumbai-Vienna route?
Austrian introduced Lie Flat Beds in Business class on the Mumbai route effective July 1, 2007 complementing with the Chef on Board , Fine Dining and a wide selection of Austrian Wines. Our Flying Coffee House with over a dozen varieties of coffee served on board makes Austrian the most preferred carrier amongst our Corporates. With the introduction of lie flat beds, our Business Class Uplifts on the route has gone up by 40% which is heartening indeed.

Do you plan adding additional cities or increasing the frequency of flights in the immediate future?
Currently we fly daily out of Delhi and five times out of Mumbai. We would be moving to daily flights effective November 1, 2007 from Mumbai and plans are on for a third destination which would be Chennai in the second half of 2008.

Austrian is synonymous with Austria. Besides Austria, which are the segments that have started getting popular with the Indian leisure travel market?
Ever since we stated our Mumbai operations our focus has always been on MICE considering Vienna being a preferred destination. Apart from Leisure, Incentive travel has been at its peak this year and we have carried over 2000 passengers to Austria this year. Salzburg, Graz, Linz and Innsbruck of course on account of Swarovski have been the other preferred destinations in Austria. Leisure / Incentive movements to Central and Eastern Europe have also caught on.

Indian outbound tourism is booming. What are the initiatives taken by the airline along with the Austrian National Tourist Office (ANTO)?
We have been working closely with ANTO in Mumbai. We have organized FAM Trips for our Top Agents, Journalists and Tour Operators visiting ACTB (Austrian and Central European Travel Business) held in Vienna every year. ANTO is currently conducting an exclusive Programme / Workshops for the Travel Agents fraternity called the Austrian Experts in Mumbai for Travel Agents who wish to sell Austria as a destination.

As a G.M for Western and Southern Region, what are the challenges you face in the current scenario?
Well the competition is fierce and our aim is to continue to offer seamless service to our customers. The first half of 2007 has shown a 50% growth in revenues compared to last year. We are focused and have our priorities in place. With the help of our valued Travel Agents and Corporates, we would be able to achieve and enhance our revenue targets in months to come.

What are the incentives you offer to student traffic heading to US via Vienna during the outbound student travel season?
We have introduced special one way fares for students travelling to Europe, USA and Canada with excess baggage of 10 Kgs to Europe and one additional piece to students travelling to New York, Washington, Chicago and Toronto.

With more airlines plying to/from India to Europe and onwards, why would the business traveller or leisure traveller prefer to fly Austrian?
Besides convenient flight departure timings, we will be introducing daily flights from Mumbai from November which will be advantageous to Corporates. In addition we are already operating State of the Art B767-300 aircraft with Lie flat beds in Business Class on our route. Vienna Airport being a very compact airport, transiting is never a problem. The Vienna International Airport offers friendly, hassle free, speedy Transfers of passenger and baggage with a minimum connecting time starting from only 25 minutes and gate to gate transfers is 500 meters only. Austrian provides immediate onwards connections to Western, Central and Eastern Europe from Vienna which makes it very convenient especially for a Business Traveller. We have excellent competitive fares in place both in Business as well as Economy Class and participate in Miles and More Loyalty Programme. Our ergonomically designed seats coupled with friendly Airhostesses makes an excellent enjoyable flying experience on Austrian which is backed by a wide choice of food and wine on board the aircraft.

Do you see a shift of preferences in leisure travel from Western to Central and Eastern Europe?
The trend is fast changing. The first time traveller to Europe would be looking at destinations like Rome, Paris and London. However an avid seasoned traveller is willing to look and explore new destinations, as a result of which destinations in Central and Eastern Europe are gaining in popularity. Cities like Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Krakow and many of the Central and Eastern European cities as well have good infrastructure along with diverse interests and are rich in culture, heritage and tradition and are considered as value for money destinations.

Lastly, what is your message to aspirants who wish to enter the aviation industry?
Overall the aviation industry in India is booming. Domestic carriers are on an expansion spree. As per information available, there are orders for 350 aircraft placed by Indian Carriers alone. Manpower requirement would be the key right from Pilots, Cabin Crew, Airport, Ground and Reservation Staff. I would strongly recommend aspirants to seek professional courses from genuine and recognized institutes who have been in the field of travel and aviation training for several years.