Air India Lures Travelers With Free SIM Cards

Thursday, 31st July 2014 at 04:29am

Want a hassle-free arrival in London? Fly with Air India!

No kidding. Yes, the national airline has a novel way to entice travelers into flying with them to London�"give away free SIM cards. Is it serious? You bet!

While a SIM card is not much of a big deal to most travelers overseas, it is nonetheless a very useful tool when you want to arrive in the UK capital (which can be overwhelming due to its sheer size) worry-free.

A senior airline official boasted that travelers won't need to burden themselves looking for pay phones upon their arrival in London airport for their communication needs.

The official admitted that while the free SIM card is not really that much, it sort of provides comfort and peace of mind to passengers upon arrival in London after an hours-long journey, thereby enhancing their travel experience with Air India.

The innovative promo comes on the heels of Air India's ascension to the roster of the elite Star Alliance members more than two weeks ago.

Star Alliance is the world's first and largest grouping of global airlines, having been established in 1997 by 5 original founding members. It has since grown to 27 members, including Air India, as of July 2014. Together, they operate more than 18,500 flights daily to over 1,300 airport destinations in over 192 countries across 5 continents.

Air India's Chairman and managing director, Rohit Nandan, said that they are improving their customer service offering to match the standards adopted by other members in the alliance. He disclosed that the novel promo will be extended soon to other destinations in Europe as well.

The airline is also being audited by IATA, the governing body of major global airlines encompassing most carriers from all over the world, irrespective of alliance affiliation.

AI frequent flyers now have access to Star Alliance's more than 1,000 airport lounges all over the world. On top of that, they can now redeem miles or earn points when flying with any of the 26 other airlines in the alliance.

Some of the most notable members in the Star Alliance network include the five founding members, namely, Air Canada, Scandinavian Airlines, United Airways, Thai Airways, and Lufthansa.

By: Pete Lee.