Friday, June 30, 2023

Indian Airlines Increasingly Face Parking Challenges At Airports

The rate of growth of the aviation sector in India has been remarkable. Big aircraft orders, along with the increasing hunger of airlines to expand their network and market share, means that the Indian skies are going to be a lot busier in the coming years. And while there’s enough space in the air to accommodate flights, the same can’t be said of major airports in the country as far as parking of planes is concerned.

India’s major hub airports of Delhi and Mumbai are perennial favorite of airlines. Both provide a steady flow of traffic, and carriers try their best to get important slots here to capitalize on demand. But parking spaces at big airports like these are now in short supply, and airlines have to find other ways to park their aircraft for the night.

An analysis done by The Hindu reveals that Delhi and Mumbai together have a parking space for a little over 360 aircraft for various Indian airlines. That’s around half of the entire commercial fleet of Indian carriers. Both these cities are also significant bases for airline crew.

According to the Aeronautical Informational Publication, Delhi airport has 233 parking stands for narrowbody and widebody planes, while Mumbai can accommodate 131 narrowbodies. Both these airports account for nearly one-third of the domestic and international traffic out of the country, and airlines naturally want to get as many parking sports here as possible.

But major airlines such as IndiGo, Air India, and Vistara, which operate a bulk of Indian flights currently, can only get around half of the parking spots they actually need for commercially viable network planning. The problem has also been exacerbated by the recent grounding of aircraft belonging to Go First and IndiGo due to the Pratt & Whitney engine problems.

30/06/2023 Gaurav Joshi/Simple Flying

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