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A few months ago, Air India and IndiGo announced scaling back their international operations in quick succession. Termed “for a limited period,” the cancellations were in response to the sudden spike in oil prices after the West Asia conflict and a combination of sliding rupees, along which would make breakeven difficult. This also came on the backdrop of losses by the Air India group and IndiGo for the last financial year, which was anything but turbulent.
As we cross into August, still a lean season for traffic, and airlines commit to reinstate connectivity as planned towards October, a look at the international connectivity from India shows a very interesting picture.
Come August, there will be 4133 weekly international departures from India, higher than 3692 weekly international departures which were scheduled in May this year, but marginally lower than the 4361 international departures of last May which was still in the middle of Operation Sindoor but before the crash of AI 171 in June, shows data shared by Cirium, an aviation analytics company, exclusively for this article.
In August, 84 airlines are connecting India to the foreign shores; this includes five of the Indian carriers as well, which provide international services, viz., IndiGo, Air India, Air India Express, Akasa Air, and SpiceJet. There are 90 airports worldwide that are connected from India, and they span across 58 countries.
Asia rules the roost
Of the 58 countries to which India is connected, the highest capacity by seats deployed as well as frequencies is led by countries in Asia. At 1205 frequencies a week and over 2.5 lakh seats, the UAE is the largest connected country from India. It also holds 29 per cent of the total international capacity to and from India. This is followed by Saudi Arabia and Thailand, occupying the second and third spots, while Singapore, whose carrier Singapore Airlines holds a 25.1 per cent stake in Air India, comes in fourth. In fifth position by seats stands the United Kingdom, while by frequency the standing goes to Qatar Airways.
However the connectivity is spread wide with 12 countries in Europe being connected, followed by ten in the neighbourhood and Indian Ocean Region, nine in South East Asia and seven in the middle east. India is connected to five countries and regions each in the far east and Africa, while North America sees two and Australia is connected by non-stop flights as well. While the Russia – Ukraine war continues for over four years, Aeroflot continues to connect Moscow to Delhi with Russia and six other CIS countries having non-stop flights to India
How many airports in India are connected to foreign shores?
While India has over 100 operational airports, only 30 airports are connected to international shores. Delhi remains the largest airport with 988 weekly international frequencies, followed by Mumbai at 784 weekly international departures and Bengaluru taking the number three spot with 368 weekly departures. The same order is followed in terms of available seats too.
Navi Mumbai Airport, which saw international services start recently, is the smallest of all international airports at the moment with just thrice a week service offering 567 weekly seats. Bagdogra Airport offers 338 international seats with four international flights a week. Only Druk Air of Bhutan operates to Bagdogra and flies to Bangkok and Paro, largely for operational reasons.
Longest and Shortest
The 85-mile distance between Paro and Bagdogra is the smallest international flight, operated by Druk Air, while Air India’s flight to Newark from Mumbai, operated by the B777-300ER, is the longest non-stop. This title for a long time was with the Bengaluru-San Francisco flight, which has since been discontinued by Air India, while its other flights to North America need a technical stop due to airspace closures.
Where do Indian carriers stand?
IndiGo leads the seats on offer from India, even with a curtailed schedule. With over 3.8 lakh seats per week, IndiGohas as 22 per cent share in all international seats on offer from India, followed by Air India which has 10 per cent share and Air India Express which has 9 per cent share. Dubai based Emirates comes in next with 334 weekly frequencies and 1.22 lakh seats per week. Overall, Indian carriers offer less than half the frequencies, seats, and capacity by ASK (Available Seat Kilometers) from India on international routes. What is often sighted as an opportunity is also a challenge, which has been proved time and again with both Air India and IndiGo scrapping multiple flights and even destinations in current times.
