NEW DELHI: India’s airlines operated fewer routes during the peak Diwali travel season, signalling that rising costs and operational disruptions are beginning to cool momentum in one of the world’s fastest growing aviation markets.
Airlines scheduled about 6% fewer flights across October and November than a year earlier, according to data from aviation analytics firm Cirium.
That marks the first capacity decline since 2020, when carriers slashed service capacity by nearly 45% amid the pandemic-induced collapse in travel demand.
The pullback comes as India’s aviation sector shows signs of strain as capacity reduction pushes fares up.
While domestic passenger traffic had already declined 6.5% in September, festive-season fares on some routes surged to levels where one-way tickets cost as much as round-trip journeys did a year ago – putting air travel out of reach of consumers.
Dinesh Sharma, a 28-year-old marketing professional in Hyderabad, said despite booking his Diwali travel months in advance, he still couldn’t find an affordable ticket back home to Siliguri, West Bengal.
“One-way fares had crossed 20,000 rupees (US$230), roughly what I would normally pay for a round trip,” he said. — Bloomberg
