Exclusive Aviation Survey (Part 3)
Prestige, loyalty, distribution, and FSCs
In India, Full Service Carriers (FSC) still carry the bulk
of business travellers. Nearly half of FSC clients travel on business
(47%), and 42% do not pay for their own tickets. In the case of
Low Cost Carriers (LCC), only 29% of passengers are business travellers,
with 21% holding sponsored tickets.
Not only do FSC travellers, or their sponsors, pay a premium of about 60% for the privilege of flying with an FSC. As previously revealed in Part 1, FSC clients also have a low propensity to book online, and will generally buy through a travel agent (61%, as compared to only 21% using the internet).
These findings reveal some uniquely Indian features in the domestic FSC market which may explain such consumer behaviour. “Grey” cash in the Indian market may be influencing the choice of FSC point of sale. However, it can be assumed that even apart the more “hands-off” behaviour of the more affluent travellers in India (where there