Airblue has lessons for local airlines

Mumbai: It’s a company which calls itself a low-cost carrier (LCC) and yet offers piping hot meals on at all its flights, has dual class seating arrangements, and surprise! surprise! made operational profit in the first two months of its operations.
Meet Shahid K Abassi, chief operating officer of Airblue, Pakistan’s low-cost airline. In three years, it has carved a third of the marketshare in the sectors it operates domestically.
Airblue has a fleet of six aircraft and it connects seven cities in Pakistan.
Like most LCCs, Airblue puts its entire ticket inventory on the Net and direct internet booking accounts for 15% of its sales.
Abbasi, an ex-parliamentarian, says he has applied to fly to India.
Under the civil aviation agreement between the two countries, there are slots for 12 flights a week between India and Pakistan, which is utilised entirely by PIA now.
31/10/06 Rabin Ghosh/Daily News & Analysis

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