New Delhi: Increasing competition, rising costs and a growing market have prompted India’s airlines to pursue a strategy of operating routes in which only one player in the fray runs direct flights — they account for nearly half of around 392 routes in India, latest data show.
Data sourced from UK-based air travel intelligence firm OAG show that 188 air routes have direct flights operated by only one airline on that route, including Hyderabad-Raipur, Kolkata-Lucknow, Amritsar-Goa, Mumbai-Kanpur, Pune-Indore and Ahmedabad-Chandigarh.
Of these, 35 are operated under the UDAN scheme on which, as per the agreement with the government, carriers enjoy flying exclusivity of three years.
Of the 188 routes, data show, 108 are operated by the two largest budget carriers — IndiGo (61) and SpiceJet (47). The remaining 80 are operated by GoAir, Jet Airways, Air India, Air India Express, Alliance Air, Air Deccan, TruJet and Zoom Air.
The data, which is based on January 2019 figures filed by the airlines with OAG, also show that 123 of these routes do not involve any of the four metro airports — Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad.
Ameya Joshi, a former aviation industry professional, told The Indian Express: “The logic behind operating on monopoly routes is that if you are already flying on a route with high competition and are unable to command the pricing there, you would rather move to a route where you have no competition so you can charge higher fares.”
He said there were three primary factors behind airlines launching routes where there is no competition. “If there’s a one-stop route between two airports that has been operated for years, some airline would start a direct route between the two destinations if there is sizeable traffic going between the two points. For example, the Delhi-Guwahati-Imphal route had been operational for years, and there was sizeable demand for the Delhi-Imphal sector that prompted AirAsia India to start that route. Then, IndiGo followed,” said Joshi, the founder of aviation analysis blog NetworkThoughts.
A check on Google flights for some of these monopoly sectors showed that direct flights on these routes were marginally costlier than one-stop flights. For example, a Kolkata-Indore flight on February 18 with a 3 hour 40 minute halt in Hyderabad cost Rs 3,078; a direct 2 hour 20 minute flight between the two cities costed Rs 3,272.
29/01/19 Pranav Mukul/Indian Express
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Data sourced from UK-based air travel intelligence firm OAG show that 188 air routes have direct flights operated by only one airline on that route, including Hyderabad-Raipur, Kolkata-Lucknow, Amritsar-Goa, Mumbai-Kanpur, Pune-Indore and Ahmedabad-Chandigarh.
Of these, 35 are operated under the UDAN scheme on which, as per the agreement with the government, carriers enjoy flying exclusivity of three years.
Of the 188 routes, data show, 108 are operated by the two largest budget carriers — IndiGo (61) and SpiceJet (47). The remaining 80 are operated by GoAir, Jet Airways, Air India, Air India Express, Alliance Air, Air Deccan, TruJet and Zoom Air.
The data, which is based on January 2019 figures filed by the airlines with OAG, also show that 123 of these routes do not involve any of the four metro airports — Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad.
Ameya Joshi, a former aviation industry professional, told The Indian Express: “The logic behind operating on monopoly routes is that if you are already flying on a route with high competition and are unable to command the pricing there, you would rather move to a route where you have no competition so you can charge higher fares.”
He said there were three primary factors behind airlines launching routes where there is no competition. “If there’s a one-stop route between two airports that has been operated for years, some airline would start a direct route between the two destinations if there is sizeable traffic going between the two points. For example, the Delhi-Guwahati-Imphal route had been operational for years, and there was sizeable demand for the Delhi-Imphal sector that prompted AirAsia India to start that route. Then, IndiGo followed,” said Joshi, the founder of aviation analysis blog NetworkThoughts.
A check on Google flights for some of these monopoly sectors showed that direct flights on these routes were marginally costlier than one-stop flights. For example, a Kolkata-Indore flight on February 18 with a 3 hour 40 minute halt in Hyderabad cost Rs 3,078; a direct 2 hour 20 minute flight between the two cities costed Rs 3,272.
29/01/19 Pranav Mukul/Indian Express
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