Air India takes flight with new concessionaire

John Rimmer

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Concessionaire Indian Duty Free Services began trading on board the country's flag carrier on May 1

Indian Duty Free Services partner Deepak Talwar told RavenFox.com: "Air India is a very interesting business. The airline talked to several operators but chose us because we are an Indian company that offers the same level of competence as any international operator. We've been running the business on board [private Indian airline] Jet Airways for some time, which also helped us win the Air India business. We've also been able to enact implementation within 30 days of agreeing a deal, which is a lot faster than many international companies could manage." 

Indian Duty Free Services, based in Delhi, has created a new dedicated duty-free catalogue for Air India featuring 90 products. It has added fragrances from P&G Prestige Products, Chanel and Bvlgari and widened the range of confectionery. "We've moved away from a reliance on liquor and tobacco to being more broad-based, which I believe is vital," said Talwar. "Air India carries long-haul, affluent customers, while Air India Express travels mostly to the Gulf and Asia. As a result the assortments are quite different."

In a bid to improve service on board Air India, the concessionaire has begun accepting travellers' cheques and is looking to introduce a credit card facility. "We've also started training and incentivising crew, which wasn't done before," explained Talwar.

In addition to its concessions with Air India, Air India Express and Jet Airways, Indian Duty Free Services also acts as a consultant to low-cost UAE airline Air Arabia.