IndiGo second on international routes, we are still market leader: Air India

Air India on Monday said it is still a market leader among Indian airlines when it comes to flying on international routes as its capacity deployment on such routes is currently almost double than that of the number-two position holder IndiGo.

The national carrier's response came after a consultancy firm, Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA), released a report on August 31 stating that IndiGo "now has the largest share of international seats to/from India".

Air India on Monday wrote an e-mail to CAPA stating that according to its "comparative scheduled capacity analysis on international routes", the national carrier has 16.7 per cent share in September when measured in terms of available seat kilometres (ASKMs).

Under ASKMs, the total passenger capacity of an airline is measured and it is calculated by multiplying the total number of available seats for passengers with total number of kilometres flown by those seats.

"The analysis done in your (CAPA) report to showcase IndiGo as largest carrier on international routes is flawed and misleading. This, of course, has been done by replacing ASKMs which is a true measure of capacity deployment with seats offered," Air India said.

According to aviation regulator DGCA, IndiGo had around 47 per cent share of the domestic passenger market in July this year, making it the market leader in domestic segment.

The CAPA report had stated on August 31 that in the week commencing from August 26, IndiGo had 11.8 per cent share of total international seat capacity to or from India.

The consultancy firm also said that in the week commencing from August 26, the Air India had 11.4 per cent share of the total international seat capacity to or from India.

Air India on Monday responded to CAPA stating that IndiGo is at number two position on international routes and it has 8.6 per cent share in ASKM terms in September.

According to Air India's email, in September it and IndiGo has scheduled passenger capacity on international routes of 3.73 million ASKMs and 1.86 million ASKMs respectively.

"Evidently, Air India is the market leader in capacity deployment between India and various international destinations. The second position held by IndiGo lags by almost half of Air India's capacity," the national carrier said.

Air India operates with its own aircraft to 42 international destinations whereas IndiGo operates to 21 international destinations only, it said.