Welcome to South Asia 101 : How to Crack South Asia, the tutorial series that will uncover ultimate methods for your airlines’ success in Southern Asian region.
Let’s first have an introduction to the region of South Asia.
South Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which is positioned between the Southwest Asia and the South East Asia and mainly comprises of the sub-Himalayan countries.
South Asia is home to well over a one fifth of the world population and is also the most populous region of the world.
South Asia mainly consists of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
Air traffic within South Asia is expected to grow at an astonishing 8.7 percent annually over the next 20 years, a higher growth rate than any other air traffic market in the world, including China.
The region has been a popular attraction to tourists although it has been seeing conflicts for some time, which mainly composed of the Sri Lanka’s based terrorist group Tamil Tigers and Afghanistan based Taliban terrorists.
However Sri Lanka Armed Forces’ recent victory against the Tamil Tigers which ended a three decade old war and insecurity in the country has brought a considerable peace to the region and has limited the conflicts only to a part of Pakistan. This is expected to highly increase tourist arrivals not only to Sri Lanka but also the neighbouring states and the resulting economical stability will help increase the VFR, O&D traffic from these nations.
Boeing’s Current Market Outlook predicts that in 20 years time, Asia Pacific region, which includes South Asia, will achieve a 41% share of the world travel market, up from the current 32%.
The Market Outlook also predicts the following air traffic trends in the next 20 years
Europe – South Asia
– RPK to grow from 53.6b to 174.6b , at a 6.1% annual growth rate .
Middle East – South Asia
– RPK to grow from 58.2b to 188.1b, a 6.0% annual growth .
South East Asia – South Asia – RPK to grow from 22.2b to 100.9b, a 7.9% annual growth .
As I have mentioned earlier, air traffic within South Asia is to grow at an 8.7% annual rate, which will increase RPKs in the region from 44.2 to 236.4 in the next 20 years.
Let’s take a look at each of these South Asian countries seperately.
Bangladesh
Capital: Dhaka
GDP: $224.889b ( 48th )
Per capita: $1,389 ( 153rd )
Population: 162,221,000 ( 7th )
Major airports: Dhaka, Chittagong
National airline: Biman Bangladesh
Local international airlines: 3
Airport annual throughput:
Dhaka – 5m pax, 150,000t freight
Bhutan
Capital: Thimphu
GDP: $3.442b
Per capita: $5,238
Population: 697,000
Major airports: Thimphu – Paro
National airline: Drukair
Local international airlines: 1
Airport annual throughput:
Data N/A
Note: Bhutan is a kingdom, a constitutional democratic monarchy ( where the King acts as the head of state within the parameters of a constituion ). It is a landlocked nation, but is one of the most scenic in South Asia. However, the government is very cautious in exposing the nation and as a result, tourist arrivals into the country are highly restricted. The only airline is Drukair, which operates to regional destinations with two Airbus A318s, and the only airport is Thimphu – Paro which is accessible through restricted VFR approaches.
India
Capital: New Delhi
GDP: $3.288 trillion ( 12th )
Per capita: $2,762
Population: 1,198,003,000 ( 2nd )
Major airports: Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Bengaluru
National airline: Air India
Local international airlines: 5
Airport annual throughput:
Mumbai : 25m pax, 533,593t freight
Delhi : 23m pax, 432,961t freight
Chennai : 12m pax, 270,608t freight
The Maldives
Capital: Malé
GDP: $1.708b
Per capita: $4,950
Population: 309,000 ( 176th )
Major airports: Malé
National airline: Maldivian
Local international airlines: 1
Airport annual throughput:
Malé : approx 1.9m pax, 46,000t freight
Nepal
Capital: Kathmandu
GDP: $33.024b ( 115th )
Per capita: $1,183
Population: 29,331,000 ( 40th )
Major airports: Kathmandu
National airline: Nepal Airlines
Local international airlines: 1
Airport annual throughput:
Data N/A
Note: Nepal is the only other land locked South Asian nation, again with one of the most scenic environments and is currently the world’s youngest republic.
Pakistan
Capital: Islamabad
GDP: $439.558b ( 27th )
Per capita: $2,738
Population: 180,808,000 ( 6th )
Major airports: Karachi, Islamabad, Lahore
National airline: PIA Pakistan Airlines
Local international airlines: 3
Airport annual throughput:
Karachi: 6mn pax, approx 182,000t freight
Sri Lanka
Capital: Colombo – Sri Jaywardenapura Kotte
GDP: $92.018b ( 67th )
Per capita: $4,581
Population: 20,238,000 ( 53rd )
Major airports: Colombo – Bandaranaike
National airline: SriLankan Airlines
Local international airlines: 3
Airport annual throughput:
Colombo – Bandaranaike: 2.5m pax, 102,000t freight
Note: Sri Lanka, one of the most scenic South Asian countries with both hill side environments, and sunny beaches, has the highest per capita of all South Asian nations.
As the above facts reveal, most of these countries have a high population and a growing a economy – and most important of all, a growing air travel market.
There are also a large number of migrants from these countries that are living abroad and a large number of expatriates from these countries who are working abroad. This makes operations into these countries heavy on not just O&D traffic, but also in connecting traffic. The tourist appeal into these countries will stimulate that traffic further.
There are 7 countries here – so what is the exemption ? Bhutan. Because there are only eight pilots in the whole world who are certified to operate into VFR. And any passengers who would want to fly to Bhutan will connect from your flights to India and Bangladesh. All the six other markets offer excellent market opportunities.
This is why airlines like Emirates, Qatar Airways and Singapore Airlines have banked on South Asia to make their operations successful and why airlines like Etihad and AirAsia are trying to bank on South Asia to make their operations even more successful.
Not just for the existing and established operators, but also for the new and future operators as well, South Asia is and will be a huge source of traffic and income . The advantages will not only be in the passenger front but also in the cargo front.
From here, I’ll be starting a series called “South Asia 101″. We’ll examine the core principles and elements that will help make your airline to have a successful operation in South Asia and how to make South Asian passengers fly with your airline.
In the next installment, I will be examining about the Demand for air travel in South Asia and how to stimulate it and make the passengers fly with you.
And if you still haven’t subscribed to our email updates, make sure you do, so you won’t miss out on the series.
Meanwhile, if you wondered, how I managed to post all the facts of Boeing’s Current Market Outlook while not having a computer, simply, I have the CMO pdf in my phone, always.
The wonderful photo of the KLM MD-11 and 747 is by Tim De Groot .
Similar Posts:
- Challenges for Airlines entering South Asia
- South Asia 101 : The Secrets for Flying Profitably to South Asia
- Why Should Sri Lanka abolish Weerawila and Develop Trinco and Jaffna airports instead
- The Big Picture of the South Asian airline market
- How to Make Colombo a hub like Singapore
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