Sudipta Dev – Mumbai
Air ambulance service has the potential to become an important segment in India’s growing medical/ wellness tourism industry. Air charter company, Imperial Air, has a strategic focus in this business. It provides 24 hour air ambulance service, and has tied up with major hospitals in metros to ensure safe, timely and efficient transfer of patients. “We try to target the hospitals along with direct clients. This business is growing at an annual growth rate of around 30 per cent and so far, only the tip of the iceberg has been addressed. The market is much bigger out there and we plan to reach out to an even bigger audience gradually,” said Raghav Narahari, vice president – Business Development & Marketing, Imperial Air.
The company makes efforts to decrease cost and has successfully reduced landing and parking charges at major metro airports, which in turn has helped its clients. “I believe we have a much better infrastructure which helps us achieve wider accessibility and reach. In today’s time, you will hardly find about 175 accessible airports in India. Other factors that set us apart is our insurance for medical evacuation policy, our Service Tax exemption to air ambulance operators in a time where exemption is only restricted to clinical establishments owning aircraft which are almost non-existent,” said Narahari, adding that they also provide interest rates rebate/ incentives for operators to acquire more aircraft, which are exorbitantly expensive.
According to Narahari, the brand USP of the company includes providing services round the clock (24×7), along with timeliness and discreteness; luxury and comfort; sensitivity towards clientele; safety and security measures.
The company also offers differentiated luxury experience to its air charter clients. “We provide other services like top of the line cutlery and special order service on French, Oriental and Indian menus. Our staff consists of uniformed and trained in-house air-hostesses to take excellent care of our guests. We also arrange for VIP cars to pick up and drop our guests to and from the aircraft to the terminal along with personal porters for their baggage handling,” mentioned Narahari.