Domestic airlines plan to operate 8% more weekly flights in winter 2024

The summer schedule, which starts on October 27 and runs till March 30, has been approved for 124 airports.

Indian airlines will operate a total of 25,007 flights every week during the winter schedule, which is more than 8 percent higher than the year-ago period, amid rising air traffic demand.

The number of weekly departures is just 3 percent higher than the 24,275 flights being operated by the scheduled carriers in the ongoing summer schedule, according to data shared by aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

The winter schedule, which starts on October 27 and runs till March 30, has been approved for 124 airports. The final slot clearances have been received from respective airport operators; operations from Pakyong and Tezpur airport were suspended in the winter schedule 2024. Last year's winter schedule was approved for 118 airports.

According to the schedule, IndiGo plans to operate the highest number of departures with 13,691 flights per week followed by Air India with 2,586 weekly flights. Vistara, SpiceJet, Akasa Air, and Alliance Air are going to operate 2,193 flights, 1,297 flights,  989 flights, and 673 flights on a weekly basis, respectively.

Interestingly, while SpiceJet has gotten DGCA approval to operate 31 percent more flights or 308 more weekly flights compared to Akasa Air, the Gurugram-based airlines has flown fewer passengers than the new entrant in 2024.

SpiceJet's market share in September stood at 2 percent after a 30-bps loss from August and 110 bps from July. September marks the sixth straight month of slump in market share for SpiceJet after it kept sliding from April to August. The airline carried 261,000 passengers in September when its market share fell from a peak of 10.7 percent scaled in February 2022.

Akasa Air carried 5.73 lakh passengers in September cornering 4.1 percent of the market, which was 30 bps lower than the August slice.

Air India Express and AIX Connect will collectively operate 2,832 flights as part of the winter schedule. Compared to the summer schedule, which ends on October 26, domestic airlines — including the combined entity of Air India Express and AIX Connect — will operate 16.2 percent more flights in the upcoming winter schedule.

While most major carriers have announced plans to increase flights in the upcoming winter schedule to capitalise on the rising domestic demand for travel, SpiceJet has cut its weekly planned departures by 21.7 percent compared to last year.

SpiceJet had reduced its planned weekly departures by 26 percent and 30 percent on-year for the winter schedule of 2023 and summer schedule of 2024 as well.

IndiGo, Air India, and Akasa Air also plan to operate 4.9 percent, 13.5 percent, and 9.5 percent more flights, respectively, in the upcoming summer schedule compared to the ongoing winter schedule.

Vistara, SpiceJet, and Alliance Air have all announced plans to reduce weekly flying capacity in the upcoming winter schedule compared to the ongoing summer schedule, according to the data shared by the DGCA.