When it comes to air connectivity, Bengaluru does better than Mumbai

Typically, route resumptions and new routes are timed with the season change and that makes for a lot of photo ops for both airlines and airports.

As the winter schedule began on the last Sunday of October, there was a frenzy of route inaugurations at airports. Typically, route resumptions and new routes are timed with the season change and that makes for a lot of photo ops for both airlines and airports.

Data provided exclusively for this article by Cirium, an aviation analytics company, shows that Delhi leads the charts on both Domestic and International routes with little scope for any other airport to catch up.

Which airport leads in connectivity 

Delhi, the largest airport in the country, has the most domestic destinations. At 75, the airport seems to have a non-stop flight to nearly three-fourths of all operational airports in the country. Occupying the second spot is Bengaluru and not Mumbai. Bengaluru is connected to 66 domestic destinations while Mumbai is connected to only 61.

Hyderabad comes next with non-stop flights to 59 domestic destinations. Kolkata and Chennai complete the top six spots with 45 and 42 destinations, respectively.

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Ahmedabad is connected to 34 domestic destinations while Pune is connected to 33. Guwahati, the gateway to North East India, is connected to 25 domestic destinations. Jaipur and the recently inaugurated second airport in Goa at Mopa complete the top ten as they are tied at 24 destinations each. The Manohar International Airport at Mopa in Goa is connected to more domestic destinations than the older one at Dabolim, which continues to operate.

A handful of destinations

There are 12 airports in the country that are connected to only one destination. These remain at the risk of dropping off the airport map if the airline operating the route shuts it down or pulls out.

There are 16 airports that are connected to two destinations and 15 connected to three. Most have flight operations as part of the RCS-UDAN scheme but not many UDAN routes continue beyond the three-year concession period.

The densest routes

The densest route in the country continues to be Mumbai-Delhi-Mumbai, with 1,506 flights this November from Mumbai to Delhi and 1,511 from Delhi to Mumbai. Mumbai-Bengaluru-Mumbai comes in next with 1,111 flights between Mumbai and Bengaluru and 1110 on the return. The Delhi-Bengaluru-Delhi sector is next with 1,096 flights to Bengaluru from Delhi and 1,092 on the return.

Delhi-Hyderabad-Delhi comes in at number four with 690 flights in November each way, followed by Delhi-Kolkata-Delhi with 660 flights each way. Mumbai-Chennai-Mumbai will see 659 flights each way and occupy sixth spot, while Delhi-Pune-Delhi at 648 flights each way comes in at number seven.

International?

Surprisingly, Delhi airport is connected to 67 International destinations, a tad lower than its domestic count. Other airports do not have such a narrow gap between domestic and international destinations.

Mumbai comes in behind Delhi with 49 international destinations. Bengaluru, which is the third busiest airport in the country, is connected to 25 international destinations. It loses out to Kochi and Chennai in international footfalls, despite flying to more destinations.

Chennai and Hyderabad are tied at 19 each, while Kochi comes in next at 18. International connectivity is largely driven by rights under bilateral air services agreements between two countries.

Tail Note

The airport landscape in the country is set to change soon. Come 2024, Noida International Airport at Jewar and Navi Mumbai International Airport are expected to start operations. Delhi still has some capacity left to expand but Mumbai has almost exhausted it.

If Goa’s new airport is anything to go by, Navi Mumbai could be in for a cracker of an opening since it will be within the metropolitan area, unlike the Noida Airport at Jewar. Will connectivity improve? Will new city pairs open up? With a steady stream of aircraft coming into Indian skies, the only way from here is up.