Aviation-hub dreams soar with Indigo’s long-haul leap

With India’s largest airline Indigo entering the longhaul segment, industry experts see it as a step towards the country becoming a global aviation hub as growing prosperity fuels an air travel boom in the world’s fifth-largest economy.

A firm order for 30 Airbus wide-body aircraft by Indigo along with purchase rights for another 70, coupled with Air India’s 70 wide-body aircraft order in 2023, could provide a distinct competitive edge to Indian airlines against foreign carriers, experts added.

“Assuming that the carriers get the right mix of what Indians want, both the carriers have a better chance of succeeding as compared to western carriers by proving courteous service,

Indian food and service.

“In the last few years, there has been a lot of growth in travel for visiting family and friends by senior citizens who prefer service with knowledge of local language and transit at Indian airports,” Ameya Joshi, founder of aviation research platform Network Thoughts said.

According to India’s aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation, foreign carriers accounted for a 56% share of the 54.4 million international passenger traffic to and from India in FY23, with the remainder held by and Indian carriers. Earlier, the ratio was more skewed in favour of foreign carriers. In FY20, their respective share was 62.4% and 37.6%. During Aprildecember of FY24, domestic carriers have garnered 44.3% share of international traffic from India.

“Thje development augurs well for the industry as these (long-haul) routes are comparatively more profitable and open up avenues for innovative combinations as Indian carriers have good domestic connectivity as well. This will also help India strengthen its case for creating an aviation hub in one of the major airports,” Jagannarayan Padmanabhan, senior director & global head, transport, mobility and logistics -consulting, Crisil Market Intelligence and Analytics, said.

Established in 2006, Indigo started its international service in September 2011.

It has seen a near four-fold jump in its international air traffic in eight years. From 400,953 passengers in October-december of 2015, it carried 3.1 million passengers in the same quarter of 2023.