Dubai: A top executive at Emirates said on Wednesday that there are “more opportunities left on the table” in the Indian aviation market now that Jet Airways has suspended all its fights.
Thierry Antinori, executive vice president and chief commercial officer for Emirates Airline, said the Dubai-based carrier “would love” to add more flights into India, but is currently already at the limit of the capacity allowed by Indian regulators.
He said there is a lack of seats in the market compared to the number of passengers, and that Emirates’ latest codeshare deal, with SpiceJet, will help increase connectivity within India.
Emirates on Monday announced it has signed a codeshare agreement with India’s SpiceJet, a deal that will provide it with an additional 67 weekly connections between Dubai and six of what it described as “fast growing destinations in India.”
Besides India, Antinori also said Emirates is focusing on Africa where it sees opportunities for growth.
He was speaking on the sidelines of a press conference to discuss the upcoming Arabian Travel Market, and added that Emirates is still on track with its plans to launch a premium economy cabin class in 2020. The carrier is now working on various elements of the new cabin class, Antinori said, without disclosing how many aircraft within the fleet will have premium economy seats.
