Having successfully connected Visakhapatnam to Singapore through its 100 per cent subsidiary, SilkAir, Singapore International Airlines (SIA) is now looking for similar untapped locations to expand its footprint in India.
Though the airline has exhausted its seat entitlements from India, it is identifying virgin markets which could be connected later on.
“When we launched flights to Visakhapatnam last year, many people asked us why? Even most Indians have not been to Visakhapatnam. But when we did a study, we found out that the city V has three to four million people staying in 100 kms radius, and the area has significant business. But the airport has no direct international flight to anywhere. There was one flight to Dubai via Hyderabad. So we decided to connect it with Singapore,,” said G. M. Toh, General Manager (India) of SIA.
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“There may not be enough passengers from Visakhapatnam to Singapore, but there are enough to fly onwards. There are many such cities in India. The challenge for us is to identify them. We are studying such untapped markets,” Mr. Toh told
He declined to name the new destinations but these cities are believed to be the ones which have no direct international flight despite having a decent international flyer base.