March traffic data has revealed a growing divide in Asia’s aviation recovery, with China’s major international airports continuing to expand while India’s key gateways suffered significant declines following disruption caused by the Iran conflict.
According to the latest Air4casts Travel Retail Brief, the fallout from US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran on 28 February exposed the differing levels of dependence on Gulf air corridors across the region, with India among the hardest hit.
The strikes triggered widespread disruption across Gulf aviation hubs, forcing airspace closures and resulting in more than 21,000 cancelled flights across seven major airports in the first four days alone. However, the March traffic figures suggest the longer-term impact has been far more severe for markets heavily reliant on Middle East connectivity.
India’s leading international airports recorded year-on-year passenger declines ranging from marginal decreases to almost 25%, while China’s top five hubs all posted growth, several at double-digit rates.
The report highlighted India’s deep structural reliance on Gulf routes. According to IATA data, the United Arab Emirates accounted for almost 20% of all international origin-and-destination traffic to and from India in 2024, equivalent to 7.6 million passenger journeys, while Saudi Arabia represented a further 9%.
OAG figures for March 2026 showed that 27% of India’s international seat capacity was concentrated on UAE routes, with Mumbai–Dubai remaining the country’s busiest international connection at 237,000 monthly seats.
07/05/2026 DFNI Frontier
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