New Delhi : India’s two largest airlines, IndiGo and Air India, along with Air India Express, are withdrawing around 250 daily domestic flights starting from June, as high fuel costs and softening travel demand put pressure on operations. IndiGo, which runs around 2,200 daily flights, is trimming its domestic capacity by 5-7%, resulting in about 110 fewer flights per day.
Air India Express, a subsidiary of Air India Limited and a low-cost carrier (LCC) operating on an all-economy class model, is cutting nearly 10% of its roughly 340 daily domestic flights. Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru are among the worst hit. As major hubs, these cities see the heaviest impact from frequency reductions on both outgoing and return flights. From Mumbai, services to Jaipur, Goa, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Nagpur, Patna and Bhopal wil be seeing reduced frequencies.
Aviation turbine fuel (ATF) prices have risen sharply, by about 25% for domestic operations and even higher for international flights due to the war in West Asia. Exactly a month ago, India’s airline industry had sought urgent government intervention as a sharp rise in jet fuel prices began to strain operations and push up costs. Fuel costs form a large part of airline budgets, and this increase has forced carriers to rationalise operations.
The move is likely to push airfares higher. Fares on several routes have already increased by 30% in recent weeks, and airlines have introduced fuel surcharges of Rs 400-450 per passenger due to higher ATF costs. With fewer seats available, prices could climb further, especially on busy sectors linking Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru, which could make air travel less affordable for many during the next three months.
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