Airlines to expand capacity this summer
In a sign of sustained momentum in international travel, the Indian civil aviation regulator has approved 1,922 international weekly flight departures for Indian airlines in the upcoming summer season, registering a 5.1% growth on year.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) approves flight departures for airlines in India twice a year under the summer and winter schedules. The summer schedule is effective from the last Sunday of March until the last Saturday of October and hence, this year it will be valid from 31 March until 26 October.
The 1,922 international weekly flight departures have been finalized to and from 27 Indian airports including the metro cities and non-metros such as Surat, Bhubaneswar, Lucknow, and Varanasi, among others.
IndiGo has secured the approval to operate 731 international flight departures weekly, 13.5% higher on year while low-cost carrier SpiceJet has been approved to operate just 174 international flight departures per week, almost 13% lower than the year-ago period. Full-service carrier Air India has witnessed a 5% jump in its approved flight departures for overseas at 455 weekly flights, its subsidiary Air India Express has seen a 21% rise at 371 weekly flights. Vistara airlines, a 51:49 joint venture of Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines, has been approved to operate 184 flight departures per week, 51% up on-year.
For the domestic segment, DGCA has approved 24,275 weekly domestic departures across 14 air operators including IndiGo, Air India, AIX Connect, SpiceJet, Alliance Air, Akasa Air, Air India Express, Vistara, Star Air, Fly 91, Fly Big, Zooom, Pawan Hans, and India One. The domestic weekly departures approved for the summer schedule are nearly 6% higher than the year-ago period when the airlines were approved to operate 22,907 flights per week.
DGCA has approved India’s largest domestic airline IndiGo to operate 13,050 flights per week, 14% higher on year while SpiceJet has been approved for 1,657 weekly flights, a 26% drop as compared to last year. Fullservice carrier Air India has been approved to operate 2,278 weekly flights in the domestic segment, a 5% year-on-year increase and Vistara has been approved to operate 2,324 weekly domestic flights, 25% up on year. India’s youngest airline Fly91 has been approved to operate 20 weekly domestic flights in the upcoming summer season.
IndiGo