(a) whether Air India has shown improvement in its performance since its tie-up with Virgin Airlines for combined marketing efforts;
(b) if so, whether Air India has been successful in re-gaining its lost share on the overseas routes presently operating jointly with Virgin Airlines; and
(c) if so, whether the present arrangements with Virgin are likely to be continued?
THE MINISTER OF CIVIL AVIATION (SHRI SHARAD YADAV)
(a):- Yes, Sir.
(b): The market share in any area is not related solely to
an Airline`s codeshare agreements with another airline.
This is dependent on number of other factors which include :
the airline`s own product, the segment of the market which
is being catered to by the airline and competition from
direct and indirect carriers. Since Air India`s code share
with Virgin Atlantic is operative only from July this year,
it is premature to assess the impact.
(c): The present agreement with Virgin Atlantic commenced
from 05th July, 2000, is valid for 5 years with a provision
that either airline can terminate the agreement with 6
months` notice, which can be served after 18 months from the
commencement of operations.