Four Corners


Our three columnists from the four corners of the globe bring us a low cost challenge from Japan; an upbeat message from India and a very welcome report from airlines across the US and Canada


JAPAN LCCs will have to tread carefully


Foreign low-cost carriers (LCCs) have been lining up for quite some time to enter the lucrative Japanese market and, once unthinkable, they are now being welcomed. Air Asia X will commence flights


Tim Zandbergen


manager sales and marketing TFK Corporation


from Haneda in December and the airline is already planning to introduce flights to Sapporo, Osaka and Fukuoka. Jetstar and other LCCs have already begun operating in Japan.


“Japanese are


wary of low-priced goods and are


doubtful of the LCC service.”


INDIA A taste for India Zafar Siamwala


Chief operating officer Oberoi Flight Services


Doha, India and Mauritius


The Indian aviation sector is going through its strongest growth in several years. This is as a result of businesses tapping in on the growing Indian market for various products and services and bringing with them a surge of travellers. With the booming Indian economy


“We consciously believe in doing our part to


provide a Greener Travel tomorow”


60 www.onboardhospitality.com


and growth of the middle classes, outbound and domestic tourists now far outnumber the foreign tourists coming into the country. The Indian traveller has always been cost- conscious but now he is also well- versed with worldwide aviation and demands a better in-flight experience. LCCs are now advertising the


sale of hot meals on board to meet passenger expectations and airlines are sparing no expense in ensuring


meals are healthier and presented in an eco-firendly manner. Airline catering has come a long


way from being taste-centric to becoming nutrition and food safety aware, produced in cost-efficient catering establishments. Caterers design menus that can be made in volume and will look and taste good at 35,000 feet, not to mention following trends and meeting route specific passenger profiles. This change incorporates not only meal ingredients but requires kitchens with modern and efficient equipment and integrated systems. Environmental awareness is all important but pricing and product availability can slow the process down. At Oberoi Flight Service our


operations consist of 1100 employees with five kitchens in India and Mauritius producing 12 million meals for 15 airline customers a year. Our new facilities in Mauritius and Delhi are designed with the latest catering innovations, placing us in the forefront of environment friendly and efficient caterers. Our initiatives include vacuum waste collection, solar energy for hot water generation, water re-cycling, centralised detergent dispensing concepts, low temperature ware wash cycle, dock seal and fast retracting, automated weather proof doors, thermal insulation, use of natural lighting, rain water harvesting and green roof concepts. We consciously believe in providing a Greener Travel for tomorrow.


Airfares in Japan are said to be


the highest in the world and the prices low cost carriers are offering are ringing alarm bells at major domestic airlines as well as with established full service carriers. The advance into Japan by these LCCs is expected to stimulate


demand for air travel, especially young people, attracting visitors from Asia and elsewhere. It could also help to boost Japan’s dormant national economy. However, most Japanese passengers are not used to no frills on a flight and there could very well be an initial backlash with the traditional LCC business model of charging passengers for extras such as hold luggage, meal purchases, inflight entertainment and so on. The Japanese, generally, are


wary of low priced goods and are doubtful if the service offered will be up to the basic. Once a company obtains a bad reputation in Japan it is very hard to re-establish itself or continue to do business so LCCs will


have to tread carefully. To counter the arrival of foreign


LCCs, All Nippon Airways will establish Japan’s first full-scale LCC this year and start service next fiscal year.


Japan Airlines, which is struggling


to reconstruct itself after filing for court-administered bankruptcy early this year, is also contemplating launching an LCC. Japan’s own LCC, Skymark, headquartered at Haneda International Airport, which is currently doing quite well, even made the surprising announcement that it is planning on purchasing four A380s to use on domestic and long haul flights. Watch this space as Japanese aviation faces change.


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