Indian airlines improve international footfalls, even as SpiceJet shrinks

Even as the debate on foreign carriers being dominant in the international market continues, Indian carriers have improved their performance in the second quarter (July–September period) of the financial year 2023–24 (Q2 FY24 or Q3 FY23). A traditionally weaker quarter for domestic traffic saw the number of passengers flying into India at 73,69,804, while those who flew out of the country were 84,75,312.

Compared to last year, the numbers were 20 percent higher, a sign of how international traffic is leapfrogging compared to domestic. The split between Indian carriers and foreign carriers was 30 percent in the same quarter last year, which has now gone up to 44.5 percent.

Compared to pre-COVID-19, the numbers were 36 percent for Indian carriers, largely due to the sudden fall of Jet Airways in April 2019. It was also the time when Air India carried more passengers than IndiGo from and to India. In pre-pandemic times, Air India was carrying more passengers than IndiGo; that reversed after the pandemic.

IndiGo continues to lead

IndiGo carried 29,24,400 passengers in the quarter, continuing to be the leading airline on international routes from and to India. It was followed by Air India at 20,24,602. Emirates, often jokingly touted as the national carrier of India, maintained its third spot with 13,59,609 passengers. The airline, which has been trying to get more access to the Indian market, carried close to 15,000 passengers in and out of India daily.

IndiGo is set to further strengthen its position as it focuses on more international routes. The airline recently launched six new stations, including in Central Asia, Africa, and Indonesia.

Tata group

Three out of four airlines in the Tata Group fly internationally. Together, the airlines carried 37,31,121 passengers in the last quarter. This was 24 percent of total international traffic to and from India. The group’s ambition of 30 percent market share may have to wait, especially as it has decided to delay the merger of Vistara with Air India, which was announced for March 2024 but has since been revised to a variable timeline of between 18 and 24 months.

As a group, the airlines carry more passengers than IndiGo, but they are currently scattered with route overlaps and will take time to consolidate. Singapore Airlines, which will co-own Air India in the future, is also part of the top 10 and, on its own, carries 3 percent of the international traffic from and to India.

SpiceJet struggles

SpiceJet, which once enjoyed a dominant position in the Indian market, dropped to 10th place in terms of international traffic. The airline was ninth in the previous quarter. SpiceJet and Air India Express were the only Indian carriers to cater to fewer passengers in Q3 CY23 over Q2 CY23, with IndiGo carrying 9 percent more passengers, Air India carrying 4 percent more, and Vistara carrying 5 percent more traffic. SpiceJet and Air India Express both saw a drop of 2 percent each. While Air India Express is on an expansion spree, the same cannot be said about SpiceJet, which is struggling with multiple court cases, grounded planes, and salary delays, amongst other issues.

Top 10 remain the same

The top 10 airlines have remained the same in terms of carrying international traffic, except that SpiceJet has moved down to 10th position while Etihad and Air Arabia have moved up.

In the case of Emirates and Qatar Airways, the airlines have fully exhausted the quota to India. Singapore Airlines has some room to grow, while Etihad remains the only foreign carrier in the top 10 to have a large unused bilateral right at its disposal.

Top 10 airlines carrying international traffic from and to India

Source: DGCA

Future is bright

Air India is days away from delivery of its first A350 to India. The airline continues to steadily add B777s from secondary markets. Coupled with the MAX 8s, which subsidiary Air India Express is receiving, the airline is poised to go for a big bang expansion in the neighbourhood as well as with the wide-body fleet from Australia to America.

If and when IndiGo tides over the Pratt & Whitney crisis, it will also pursue big-bang expansion on the international front. The airline is also hit by delays in the delivery of the A321XLR, with which it has ambitious plans.