Air India wants to achieve same level of service as Qatar Airways, Emirates: CEO

Plan to reclaim market from them and transform India into a hub for travelers

NT Bureau

DOHA: Air India wants to achieve a level of service, product quality, and hospitality akin to that of Qatar Airways, Emirates, Singapore Airlines, and British Airways, its Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Campbell Wilson has said.

Wilson, who assumed leadership at Air India in July 2022, also said airlines around India, including those based in the Gulf, have survived due to Air India’s weakness, but the carrier now has an opportunity to reclaim the market from them and transform the country into a hub for travelers.

 “India, as a country, had 43 wide-body aircraft at the time of Air India’s privatisation, while Dubai had 250, Singapore had 150, and Qatar had 175. That highlights the subscale nature of Air India and the opportunity it has to grow,” Wilson said in his speech at the 45th anniversary celebrations of the chartered accountancy firm PKF Sridhar & Santhanam on Monday night, Business Standard reported.

Airlines like Emirates, Qatar Airways, Etihad Airways, and Singapore Airlines serve substantial international traffic to and from India via their hubs in the region, he said.

 “Many airlines domiciled around India have survived in the Indian market due to Air India’s weakness… Notwithstanding the market growth around us, we have the opportunity to regain market share and connect India to all the important centres of the world, making India a hub for travellers because our geography is as advantageous as that of every airline I mentioned,” he said.

Over the past few years, the Indian government has refused to expand bilateral service agreements with Gulf nations, limiting their carriers from adding more flights to India.

This decision aims to support the expansion of local carriers like Air India and IndiGo in their international services, especially to destinations in North America and Europe.

In March last year, Emirates President Timothy Charles Clark termed India’s decision to not expand bilateral rights between India and Dubai as “very vexing”, adding that it is a “pity” that the carrier is unable to operate more flights to India amid high demand, the Business Standard report said.

Wilson said, “Those of us who have been in the aviation business as long as I have always looked at Air India with a little bit of regret, a little bit of what should have been. Such an iconic brand, such a long history, such a strong and proud country, represented in such a way.”

He added that he now has the opportunity to correct the “historic wrong”.

India’s Vistara, which is a 51:49 joint venture of Tata Group and Singapore Airlines, is currently in the process of merging with Air India.