As international air passenger traffic and demand continues on a growth trajectory in the post-pandemic period, Indian airlines have been strengthening their position in the segment vis-à-vis foreign airlines operating to and from India. As the overall pie of international passengers flying to and from India continues to see robust growth, Indian carriers are expanding, and not just maintaining, their international market share by passengers carried.
An analysis of airline-wise international passenger traffic data from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for April-June (Q1) shows that Indian airlines’ cumulative market share strengthened to 45.6 per cent from 43.9 per cent a year ago. The growth was significantly starker when compared to the corresponding quarter of 2019—prior to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic—when India’s home-grown airlines had a combined market share of just 34.7 per cent.
The total scheduled international passenger traffic from and to India in Q1 was 1.77 crore flyers, 13.3 per cent higher on the year and 13.5 higher than the corresponding period of 2019. The June quarter of last year had marked a full recovery for international air passenger traffic from the impact of the pandemic, which had brought the global civil aviation sector to a grinding halt. The DGCA releases quarterly international traffic data with a lag and so far, data till the June quarter has been made public.
International market share gains may be seen as a positive trend for Indian carriers and India’s civil aviation sector at large. Major Indian carriers as well as the government have ambitions to have more direct international connectivity from India and to turn the country into an international aviation hub. Long-haul travel on board Indian carriers, however, continues to remain a challenge as a significant number of passengers flying to far off destinations from India take connecting flights through major global hubs outside the country.
Although foreign airlines together still account for a majority of passenger traffic flying into and out of India, their cumulative market share has been on the decline in the post-pandemic period. According to industry watchers, the growth in the international market share of Indian airlines is being fuelled by a combination of factors, a few being external in nature.
These include overseas network expansion and higher capacities deployed on international routes by carriers like IndiGo and the Tata group airlines, slower recovery in capacity deployment by some foreign carriers, and reduction in flights by various Western airlines — mainly North American carriers — as geopolitical conflicts and airspace closures have made a number of their routes to Asia unviable from a financial standpoint.
Leading this expansion in market share, primarily, are IndiGo and Vistara, which will soon merged with Air India. IndiGo’s international market share expanded to 18.3 per cent in Q1, up from 17.2 per cent a year ago and 9.6 per cent in the June quarter of 2019. Vistara’s market share expanded to 4.2 per cent from 3.1 per cent a year ago. The Tata group carrier did not have international operations in the June quarter of 2019.
Tata group’s flagship airline Air India saw a marginal contraction in market share to 12.3 per cent in Q1 from 12.5 per cent a year ago. In the June quarter of 2019, the carrier was still under government control, and had an international market share of 11.6 per cent. Its no-frills arm Air India Express was able to expand its international market share to 8.3 per cent in Q1 from 7.8 per cent a year ago. In the June quarter of 2019, Air India Express’s international market share was 8.1 per cent.
In all, the Tata group airlines had a combined international market share of 24.8 per cent in Q1, higher than IndiGo’s 18.3 per cent.
SpiceJet, which had been reeling under financial stress until recently, registered a contraction in international market share to 2.4 per cent from the year-ago quarter’s 2.7 per cent and 4 per cent in the corresponding period in 2019.
Among overseas majors operating to India, Emirates continued to be the largest airline by market share. The Dubai-based carrier’s market share in international passenger traffic to and from India in Q1 was 7.9 per cent, down from 8.6 per cent a year ago, and 9.7 per cent in the June quarter of 2019. Etihad from neighbouring Abu Dhabi, however, managed to expand its market share to 3.9 per cent from 2.6 per cent a year ago, although it was still lower than the 4.6 per cent market share Etihad held in the June quarter of 2019.
| Indian airlines’ international market share by passengers carried (in %) | |||
| Airline | April-June 2024 | April-June 2023 | April-June 2019 |
| IndiGo | 18.3 | 17.2 | 9.6 |
| Air India | 12.3 | 12.5 | 11.6 |
| Air India Express | 8.3 | 7.8 | 8.1 |
| Vistara | 4.2 | 3.1 | – |
| SpiceJet | 2.4 | 2.7 | 4.0 |
| Others | 0.2 | 0.6 | 1.4 |
| Total | 45.6 | 43.9 | 34.7 |
Based on analysis of international traffic data released by the DGCA