Abu Dhabi is strengthening its focus on India as one of its fastest-growing source markets, with tourism authorities, airport operators and airlines expanding
connectivity and investing in new attractions to capture rising demand from Indian travellers. Officials from the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi), Abu Dhabi Airports and Air India Express outlined their growth plans during a media interaction hosted by Air India Express and DCT Abu Dhabi. Speaking during the session, calling India one of the emirate's priority markets, Haitham Ali Khamis, the Director of Tourism Product Development at the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi) said the relationship extends beyond tourism. "India is one of our most important markets and longest-standing strategic partners." Khamis said the partnership is underpinned by strong business ties, cultural links and the large Indian diaspora in the UAE. The emirate welcomed more than 436,000 Indian visitors over the past year, registering a 32 per cent year-on-year increase. According to DCT Abu Dhabi, Indian travellers also rank among the highest contributors across leisure travel and visits to friends and relatives (VFR), while staying longer than many other visitor segments, Khamis added Indian travellers are increasingly attracted by Abu Dhabi's mix of heritage, luxury hospitality, family experiences and cultural offerings. "Our partnerships with airlines and industry stakeholders are focused on making it easier for Indian travellers to experience Abu Dhabi, he said." The tourism push is being supported by rapidly expanding air connectivity. Carsten Nørland ,Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) Abu Dhabi Airports said India has become its largest market, accounting for nearly 7 million passengers annually, or around 24 per cent of total passenger traffic. Around 5 million passengers travel directly between India and Abu Dhabi, while another 2 million use the emirate as a transit hub through its airline network. Passenger demand from India continues to grow by more than 20 per cent annually, with new routes witnessing strong demand soon after launch. By August, Abu Dhabi will have direct connectivity to 22 Indian cities, further strengthening links between the two countries, Nørland added. Air India Express, one of the fastest-growing carriers on India-UAE routes, said the Gulf remains central to its international expansion strategy. "Express was founded to serve the Middle East market from India. And it was a 25 aircraft airline pre-privatization. In the last four years, we have quadrupled the capacity. We have gone from 25 to 100 aircraft," Air India Express Chairman Nipun Aggarwal said. He described the Middle East as the airline's core market. "Middle East we see as our home market, it's our domain, where we want to maintain strong presence, continue to grow, and build the brand, and build the customer loyalty." Aggarwal said the airline is now expanding beyond its traditional South India network to connect more Indian cities with Abu Dhabi and the wider Gulf region. "The new flights that we have announced are basically ensuring that we are connecting not just South India, which we used to do up until recently. We are connecting all parts of India, whether it is Lucknow or Indore or Guwahati or Navi Mumbai. Our aspiration is to connect all parts of India to the region, Aggarwal said." The expansion comes alongside a significant fleet induction programme. "Our fleet expansion is pretty well known and well articulated already. We have our order book, out of which less than 10% aircraft have been delivered. The balance deliveries will start from later part of this year, and every year we should be getting 40 to 50 aircraft for the next seven to eight years." Aggarwal said the airline is strengthening its operational capabilities ahead of the deliveries. "We have been preparing to absorb that capacity, deploy that capacity. We are building capability, strengthening our systems, process, people capability. And we look forward to adding that capacity, which is critical for our modernization and repositioning of the airline for better customer experience, better profitability, and so on and so forth." AIX launched three flights from Abu Dhabi in mid July . Abu Dhabi - Navi Mumbai and Abu Dhabi - Indore on July 15 and Abu Dhabi - Lucknow on July 16. The airline has announced the start of Abu Dhabi - Guwahati flights from August. Air India Express operates over 500 daily flights with a fleet of more than 100 planes. It flies to 43 domestic and 16 international destinations.
