Hotels in B’lore revel as new flights check in

Hotels in B’lore revel as new flights check in
The Economic Times


THE proposed entry of British Airways, Northwest Airlines, Air France and additional flights from Lufthansa this winter into Bangalore has given rise to fresh business opportunities and greater demand for five-star hotel rooms.

According to market sources, Le Meridien has managed to corner the largest share of the crew business followed by the Leela and Oberoi.

An estimated 4,200 seats a week (19 flights) will be added to the city’s inventory from this November. Even if a fifth of them opt for star hotel rooms, the additional demandsupply gap will be at least 840 rooms weekly.

Finally, there may not be enough room to exploit this business opportunity.

While the crew business does not necessarily guarantee the highest room tariff, it definitely promises fixed utilisation through the year for the hotels. It is, however, said by sources that Bangalore crew occupancy rates are higher than other metros like Mumbai or Delhi given its higher average room realisations.

Bangalore has around 1,600 five-star rooms — including its spa resort — a number which falls short by almost 100% during peak season.
The September to mid-December spell is said to be among the busiest for the tech city. Since airline load factors will also peak in December-January, the demand for star rooms can reach new heights during this period.

Incidentally, the city’s airport is already facing tremendous pressure with its limited space. The situation can assume alarming proportions this winter, especially with more departures during a short window of time in the night.

The airport handles around 57 international flights in a week now, which will be raised to 76 from November.

Next summer, British Airways has already indicated a possible ramp-up of its flights to a daily service. Even on the domestic services front, the numbers are rising and there may be no respite with more flights and airlines joining the queue.

Five-star hotels in Bangalore are expected to register occupancies in excess of 88% this winter. Since weekends taper out, it means during weekdays there may be over 100% occupancy or more than one set of guest/guests staying and vacating the room on the same day.
With demand tipped to peak, tariffs are also expected to be correspondingly hiked.

This situation will only improve when more rooms (read hotels) come into the system over the next 6-12 months.