Smaller cities are seeing significant increase in international connectivity

While over 100 airports may be operational in India, only 33 handle international traffic. This number has been growing steadily, with Port Blair joining the list this winter when AirAsia starts thrice-weekly service to Kuala Lumpur. Last year saw a significant increase in international flights from India. Data shared by Cirium—an aviation analytics company, exclusively for this article—shows that this November, the first full month of the winter schedule, will see 4,382 weekly international departures from India, a growth of 12% over 3,913 weekly international departures from last November. In terms of seats, the growth is similar at 11%.

The granularity of the data shows that the distribution is not equal, with the metro cities getting more flights than the smaller ones, but the smaller ones seeing a high growth rate compared to the metro cities.

What do the numbers say?

Nineteen airports clocked more frequency growth than the average 12%, while 14 did not perform as well as the average. Three airports—Goa Dabolim, Nagpur, and Gaya—will fly fewer international services this November than the previous one. The loss of Goa Dabolim has been the gain for Goa Manohar International Airport, Mopa, thus ensuring that the small state does not lose out as a whole.

Guwahati, Vizag, and Surat will see more than double flights this November, while Coimbatore, Chandigarh, and Jaipur will see 1.5 times the flights this November. This is largely due to a very low base and the addition of frequency. Vizag and Guwahati had four international flights a week last November, which will increase to nine and ten international flights a week, respectively, this November.

Interestingly, Delhi might see below-average growth, with an 11% rise in international frequencies. In absolute numbers, the airport will see 90 additional weekly international flights. The number of additional weekly international flights is 81 for Mumbai, 60 for Bengaluru, 38 for Kozhikode, 15 for Hyderabad, and 12 for Chennai. Ahmedabad and Trivandrum will see a rise of 22 and 27, respectively.

Which are the top international airports?

Delhi will continue to lead the international flights from India, with 24% of all departures being from Delhi. This will be followed by Mumbai at 19% and Chennai at 8%. Kochi and Bengaluru will be neck and neck at 7% each, while Hyderabad will see 6% of all international departures from India. Kolkata has slipped to eighth position, maintaining a similar number of flights as last winter.

In terms of destinations being connected, Delhi continues to lead, with the Cirium schedule showing 70 international destinations connected to Delhi, while Mumbai will have 50. Bengaluru, Chennai, and Hyderabad will have 29, 25, and 20 international destinations, respectively. Delhi will have 65 airlines offering international connectivity, while Mumbai will see 52 and Chennai 37. Bengaluru, Kochi, and Hyderabad will see 32, 25, and 24 airlines offering international services, respectively.

Which airlines are expanding?

The maximum expansion comes from Air India Express, with 148 additional weekly flights. Air India’s addition includes all the flights of Vistara, which is merging with Air India in November. This is closely followed by IndiGo, with 129 additional weekly flights.

Oman’s Salaam Air is adding 30 weekly flights, but it comes at the expense of Oman Air, which is reducing an equal number. Abu Dhabi’s flag carrier, Etihad, has added 29 weekly flights, while the AirAsia group, which has expanded to the hinterlands of India wherever bilateral rights permit, sees its Malaysia arm add 27 and Thai arm add 26 weekly flights, respectively. India’s Akasa Air will operate 25 more flights each week, Thai Lion Air will add 20 weekly flights, while Virgin Atlantic sees 14 more flights.

Tail Note

The schedule will only get bigger as we progress, and a few more announcements are expected before November, giving Indian carriers more strength. A round of negotiations for bilateral rights is overdue with many countries. There is a high possibility of that happening sometime soon. Coupled with rapid induction by IndiGo and Air India Express in the pipeline, it will open up new gateways for airports, airlines, and passengers. The addition of A321XLRs to IndiGo’s fleet next year will be another game changer.

A mix of public announcements and indications hints at over 10 new destinations being connected by Indian carriers over the next six to eight months, further strengthening international connectivity. While this may primarily be from metros, it opens up the possibility of future routes.