IndiGo beats Air India group in international scheduled flights, seats

IndiGo, which has been expand­ing in a big way abroad, has overtaken the Air India group in the number of scheduled flights as well as seats during this winter schedule (October-March).  

While the airline is grappling with problems in its domestic sector, IndiGo, according to gl­obal aviation analytics company Cirium, has rung up a 14.5 per cent increase this international winter schedule — up to 44,035 flights between October 26 and March 27 next year — over the previous winter schedule (October 27 last year to March 26), when it had 38,481 flights. 

In contrast, the Air India gro­up, which has Air India and Air India Express, has trimmed its winter schedule by over 9 per cent, with the number of flights dropping from 45,958 last winter to 41,626 this time. The number of fights and seats cleared by the ministry of civil aviation of cou­rse can be changed or tweaked.   

IndiGo increased its seats from 7.4 million to 8.6 million. 

However, in the last winter sc­hedule, the Air India group had more seats with 9.2 million.  But it cut the number of seats in this winter schedule to 8.3 million. As a result, IndiGo’s share in international flights — to and from India, based on the Cirium data — has gone up to 22.1 per cent from 20 per cent. 

During the same period, the Air India group’s share fell from 24 per cent to 21 per cent.   

Critics, however, say it is the speed of expansion — domestic and international —without an adequate number of pilots that has been a key reason for its crisis. The new flight-duty rules have added to this. 

What has also helped Indian carriers like IndiGo to expand is the civil aviation ministry’s policy of imposing a tight leash on allowing more flights to foreign carriers under the bilateral agreements,  especially in the busiest routes, despite a clamour from global carriers to do so which many say is stifling competition. 

But protection for Indian ca­r­riers, many argue, might not be the best thing for the co­u­n­try’s flyers, with more travelli­ng abr­o­ad. Emirates (India-Dubai ro­u­te) is stuck with 7,348 flights in three winter schedules, including this one. 

Many leading gl­o­bal airlines ha­ve reduced flights this wi­n­t­er. Singapore Ai­rlines has dr­opped the nu­m­b­er of flig­h­ts 3 per cent, Qantas 8.46 per ce­nt, Thai International Airways 7.08 per cent, Lufthansa 4.2 per cent, Air France 0.1 per cent, and Swissair 1.3 per cent. Most of th­em are popular with Indian travellers. 

In West Asia, India’s largest international market, most glo­bal airlines have seen little ex­pansion in this winter schedule. Qatar Airways’ number fell 3 per cent and Saudi’s over 2 per cent. 

Etihad Airways increased its flights by a mere 0.1 per cent and Air Arabia’s was up only 0.8 per cent). flydubai saw no ch­ange.

Other Indian carriers like Spi­ceJet and Akasa have benefited but they had a low base. And they don’t have wide-bodied aircraft to fly to continental Europe, the United Kingdom, or Australia and have concentrated on West Asia and Southeast Asia, where global airlines’ demand for more capacity has met with no response.   

Akasa this winter season in­creased its flights by 118 per cent — from 1,566 to 3,414. It is now closing in on SpiceJet, whose increase was 9 per cent.