Austrian Airlines plans to start another Delhi-Vienna service
Austrian Airlines plans to start another Delhi-Vienna service
New Delhi: After suspending its service from Mumbai, Austrian Airlines is considering plans to launch a second flight to Vienna from Delhi from next summer.
“They (the airline) are considering having one additional flight out of Delhi in the summer schedule (from April next year)," Vienna Tourism Board (VTB) director Norbert Kettner said here.
Replying to questions, he said the suspension of the Mumbai-Vienna flight has had a negative impact on the inflow of Indian tourists, almost 70% of whom stayed in four- or five-star hotels and spent large sums on shopping.
The takeover of Austrian by German carrier Lufthansa was also one of the factors, with the merged airline being in the process of rationalising its route network, he said.
But India was high on the list of countries the airline was planning to expand its operations to, Kettner said, adding that VTB and Austrian Tourism Board were in consultation with the airline to expand India operations. “Connectivity is a major issue. All signs so far are quite positive."
While the total number of overnight stays in Vienna by Indians went down by 7.8% in the first quarter of this year, it was satisfactory compared with similar figures from Germany and the UK, Kettner said.
Describing the Indian market as “high potential", he said over 50 million Indians are projected to vacation abroad by 2020 and Vienna was one of the major destinations.
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