Experts for a regional alliance of South Asian airlines

Aviation experts and top officials of different airlines yesterday stressed the need to form a regional alliance among South Asian airlines to sustain against the competition of global mega airlines, stretch their market share, and increase customer satisfaction.

This will also help promote air connectivity in the region, boosting trade, commerce and tourism as well as provide multifaceted benefits and packages to passengers, resulting in capturing more market share, they added.

They said this at a roundtable conference titled "Greater cooperation among South Asian airlines" at a city hotel. Aviation expert Kazi Wahidul Alam presided over the seminar, organised by Bangladesh Monitor.

While presenting the keynote paper, aviation expert ATM Nazrul Islam said it was the need of the hour to create greater cooperation among the airlines of South Asian countries.

He said due to limited connectivity only 27 million passengers arrived in this region in 2019 from other regions whereas during the same period 198 million passengers arrived in North America, 968 million in Europe and 30 million in China.

He said about 32 airlines of different South Asian countries operate from the region to different destinations.

Unfortunately, the South Asian airlines are still far from such cooperation among themselves.

He said airlines of South Asian countries could not create any impact in the connectivity among the countries of this region. Neither could they establish themselves as competitive to other regions' airlines or alliances.

He also said airlines of this region are ultimately losing revenue and business to the giant airlines or alliances. They can overcome their weakness by cooperating and expanding their route network.

Nazrul Islam said cooperation among the airlines may be generated on the following areas: code sharing, Interline agreement for route sharing, operation facilities sharing and training.

Addressing the event as chief guest, Biman MD and CEO Shafiul Azim said the idea of forging a collaborative alliance in the aviation sector is both timely and visionary.

"By joining forces through this alliance, we have the opportunity to address these challenges collectively, leveraging our combined strengths and expertise," said the Biman boss.

He said together they could increase operational efficiency, improve safety standards, and reduce costs, ultimately benefiting both airlines and the millions of passengers who rely on air travel for business and leisure.

"Together, we can create an aviation landscape in South Asia that is safer, more efficient, and more accessible than ever before," he also said.

"We don't want to walk alone. Lets work together for our common goal."

Ganesh Rajaram, country manager, Air India, and Morgan Dsouza, country manager, Vistara, also spoke at the programme.