Air India to explore direct flights to Australia

Moneycontrol News

Air India could soon start direct flights between India and Australia to deepen air connectivity between the two countries, officials said on October 24.

In a meeting attended by minister of state, Jayant Sinha, Western Australian tourism minister, Paul Papalia and Air India chairman and managing director, Pradeep Kharola, Western Australia agreed to start direct, non-stop flights between India and Perth.

"India and Australia share strong trade, investment, sporting and education ties.  Direct connectivity between India and Australia has the potential to deepen these relationships," Sinha said after the meeting.

According to government estimates, flyers from New Delhi to Australia increased by 38 percent between December 2015 and December 2017.

"Today’s meeting was extremely productive and significantly progressed our efforts towards establishing direct flights between India and Perth," Papalia said adding that Australia has, for the first time, "committed funds" to market Australia as a tourist destination for Indian flyers to underscore their "seriousness" towards the relationship.

The Western Australia government recently appointed a dedicated marketing representative based in Mumbai to "market" Australia to Indian consumers.

"Many Indian carries are now permitted to fly on international routes and we hope to see many new direct flights and increased frequency between the two countries," Sinha said.