Air India’s Kiwi boss: What it will take to get non-stop flights to New Zealand off the ground

Air India’s Kiwi chief Campbell Wilson says the airline is making good progress on ‘’fixing the sins of the past,’’, is taking delivery of a new plane every six days and continues to eye flights to this country.

While non-stop flights to New Zealand are on the radar, the airline is concentrating on destinations where there’s greater demand; North America and Europe.

Speaking on the sidelines of the International Air Transport Association meeting in Dubai, Wilson said Air India would work with Air New Zealand to make any direct flights feasible.

The airlines are both members of the Star Alliance and are interested in flying between the two countries but with no spare aircraft capacity, they say there’s no fixed date on that.

Air India flew a handful of non-stop repatriation flights during the Covid-19 pandemic and Wilson told the Herald it saw New Zealand as a market opportunity because there was enthusiasm among the rapidly growing middle class to travel here. There was a large Indian population in this country.

But the flight was a long and relatively ‘’thin’' route, unlike others where there were large populations and big demand at both ends.

He said the airline would need to build connectivity over Delhi – a strong option for the service – for other destinations beyond the city to help make it feasible.

‘’So it’s something we’re monitoring, but I think it’s something that we’ll consider for a longer-term plan but for the short term, we have more pressing opportunities,’’ he said.

The airline is going through a complete transformation to restore it to its former glory, merging with other carriers and last year made the biggest airline order ever. When asked whether he would like Air India to use some of the planes to used on regular flights non-stop to this country, he said

‘’I think the reality of the market is that it’s better done in co-operation Air New Zealand and ourselves are both Star Alliance partners.’`

Building frequency is essential to gain efficiencies and build demand for long-haul routes which require hundreds of millions of dollars of investment.

‘’We both see the potential of the market, but both of us see that compared to other deployment opportunities for aircraft. It is a bit more risky proposition if we do it alone.’’

Regulatory approval would be needed for the airlines to co-operate on the route which would link the most populous nation in the world and this country, an increasingly popular tourist destination with the burgeoning Indian middle class with a growing desire to travel.

In the third quarter of last year about 20 per cent of visitors from India came for holidays. Approved visitor visas have also surpassed 2019 levels, averaging 10,000 a month (a 47 per cent increase in September 2023 versus September 2019).

Auckland Airport is pushing for the non-stop link and says there were an estimated 300,000 Indian nationals living here that would underpin a big ‘’visiting friends and relatives’' (VFR) market and around 23 million actively considering a trip to New Zealand.

For three-quarters of them, New Zealand’s number is one or two in the list of places they want to go next, the airport has said. India is also a priority market for trade and tourism.

Air New Zealand chief transformation and alliances officer Mike Williams said he had recently met Wilson and there had been some ‘’hypothetical’' talk about flights.

While engine maintenance issues and new aircraft delivery delays mean Air New Zealand has limited fleet for new routes, he said this won’t always be the case.

The airline has a Pacific Rim focus but this wouldn’t preclude a destination such as India – if the commercial case stacked up.

Williams said Air New Zealand was able to serve strong demand for India with an existing commercial partner, Singapore Airlines (SQ).

‘’We’re arm in arm with SQ and it is working well.’’

But from a macro perspective there was an enormous potential catchment in Delhi and Mumbai that could support direct flights.

At more than 12,000km, routes into India are a challenging distance but shorter than Auckland-New York and well within the range of Boeing 787 Dreamliners which fly the airline’s ultra-long haul routes. Air India flies Boeing 777s and is taking delivery of Airbus A350s, the marque aircraft in its fleet.

Williams said recent changes to air services agreements had opened up more potential destinations in India but before any flights were planned there would need to be substantial work on how to connect to domestic and other international flights through Indian airports.

‘’We’re definitely interested when the time’s right, when the fleets are right, when we’ve got confidence in the market and also a really good understanding about how we’d work together with others.’’

Wilson has been chief executive of Air India for the past two years. He’s overseen the stitching together of four airlines in the wider group which has about 255 aircraft carrying 155,000 passengers a day. The group has about 30,000 staff and revenue of around $US8 billion ($13.14b). Air India last year placed an order for a further 470 aircraft as it re-establishes itself and serves a growing appetite for long haul travel through the country.