Will regional operations become the secret sauce for airlines' success?

Data show that airlines make more money flying regional than on metro routes

SpiceJet boss Ajay Singh is mighty pleased with the performance of his airline. Despite a load factor of more than 90 per cent, the airline’s yield has remained healthy. Yields give an idea about the airline’s ability to command a price for its ticket. For SpiceJet, it was positive despite cut-throat competition on prime routes.

SpiceJet’s better yields are a result of the higher fare it commands from its regional operations. Pricing on some of the routes has been reasonably good, resulting in much higher yields when compared with key metro routes. 

“SpiceJet, which has sizeable capacity on such routes, has better