GoAir poised to take off, explore new horizons

Wolfgang Prock-Schauer, CEO of Go Airlines (India) Limited, has set an ambitious growth path with the airline set to add one aircraft per month over the next decade — a hectic pace by any standards.

GoAir, one of the fastest-growing low-cost airlines, expects to ride the Indian aviation growth story with the 144 Airbius aircraft it has ordered. They are to be delivered by 2025.

The country's aviation sector is growing at about 20 per cent, and even if it grows 10-15 per cent, it a great opportunity, Prock-Schauer says.

The aviation veteran says “one of the challenges the aviation sector faces is to be profitable in an environment where the fares have fallen about 25 per cent in the last one year”.

Drawing from his experience working with Austrian Airlines, Jet Airways, British Midland Airways and Air Berlin, Wolfgang has been instrumental in crafting the expansion of GoAir, not only in the domestic market, but also abroad as the airline starts services to a few overseas destinations next summer.

These could be to Teheran, Central Asia, South China and Far East, among others.

The airliner, which launched its operations in November 2005, currently operates with a fleet of 20 Airbus aircraft across 23 destinations with over 975 flights and about 2,000 plus connections weekly. Currently, GoAir operates 144 flights per day and expects this to go up to about 180-190 flights by December.

“We are on course to adding six more Airbus aircraft to our fleet by March 2017, which will enable us to further expand and consolidate the domestic market presence, while also connecting to some of the overseas locations. These overseas hubs are those which can be covered within six hours, the range ideal for our fleet,” he explains.

Prock-Schauer says he is a votary of a single type aircraft as it makes it easier to manage. “Different sized fleet adds to the management issues.”

Expressing confidence about the under-penetrated Indian aviation market, he says the domestic market is growing at about 20 per cent and there are indications that this growth is likely to sustain over the years. “While we currently command a market share of about 8 per cent, we expect to consolidate this as we add to the fleet expand network and reach out to more locations. In addition, connecting to some locations abroad will add to the airline volumes,” he says.

On the new aviation policy, he said that the 5/20 rule was good as there was some deep thinking on when to allow airlines to fly abroad. “I believe, airlines need some experience before they go to new locations. Managing international operations is a different matter all together.”

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