Travel Diary – Rebound of Air Travel in India – Observations from Ankit 

While visiting India recently, our research analyst, Ankit Suri spent time conducting on-the-ground diligence on airlines. At the Delhi domestic airport terminal he was surprised to see how crowded it was, especially for a Sunday morning. Domestic air traffic in India has rebounded considerably and the Ministry of Civil Aviation has been gradually increasing the maximum allowed capacity for domestic carriers, to 80% of pre-COVID levels currently.

As you can see from the flight departure board, almost all the airlines that were operating pre-pandemic have now resumed operations, contrary to some initial market perceptions.

On some of the widely travelled routes, including Delhi-Lucknow, IndiGo flies the most frequently and appears to be gaining visible market share as the country reopens. He estimates that on the popular routes the load factor is at pre-pandemic levels already.