What if, in a few months' time, companies started flying their staff via Bombay (Mumbai) for business trips to Australia? It would have seemed an unusual route to take a few years ago, but in the future, India's major airports are set to become the main gateway to Australia. true global hubs like Abu Dhabi or Bangkok.
Indian airlines are increasingly turning to the international market, even as they face the challenge of fierce competition on their domestic routes. High operating costs in India - due to multiple taxes and monopolies on services - and competition between airlines make the operation of domestic routes financially uncertain. Indeed, while flights are posting load factors approaching 90% and domestic traffic has doubled in just four years, Indian carriers are struggling to make a profit. Hence their desire to launch themselves on more international routes.
In less than five years, the share of Indian airlines on international routes has risen from 31% to 38%. Admittedly, the government is restricting traffic rights for foreign airlines, which explains this rise. But this is not the only factor, as there are also a real dynamic Indian companies on the international stage.
Jet Airways is a perfect example. This private company, which has become a benchmark for international connectionsParis-Madras (Chennai) was opened last year in cooperation with Air France. At the time of the route's inauguration, the airline mentioned the possibility of increase its presence in ParisThis will be achieved either through a new frequency to Bombay, or possibly by opening a Paris-Delhi flight. At the same time, it has just confirmed the launch of a new route this year: Manchester-Bombay, which is due to start operating on 1 November with four flights a week.
With this route, Jet Airways becomes the leading Indian carrier on the UK/India route, offering up to five daily flights, i.e. three between Bombay and London, one Delhi-London in addition to the new flight to Manchester. According to Reuters, sources inside Jet Airways management indicate that the airline is now working to secure traffic rights for a flight between Mumbai and Sydneyits first service to Australia. The route would connect in Mumbai with the entire Jet Airways network to Europe, including Amsterdam and Paris.
On theAir IndiaHowever, the difficulties encountered by the Indian government in selling a large part of its stake in the indebted national airline have somewhat hampered its expansion abroad. But, once acquired by a new operator, it could resume its expansion outside India. Jet Airways has already announced that it is interested in taking over the routes of Air India, the Indian national carrier which controls 17% of international passenger traffic with prestigious routes such as Delhi-London, Delhi-Frankfurt and Delhi-Paris.
But it's not just the leaders of the Indian air transport industry who are keen to expand. The low-cost Spicejet plans to launch international routes, starting with intra-Asian routes, with the delivery of its first Boeing 737 MAX aircraft from August. For its part, Vistara, another carrier whose shareholders are Singapore Airlines and the Indian conglomerate Tata, has already indicated that it wants to launch intercontinental routes. The airline is due to place an order for ten Boeing 787s, for delivery next year.
Vistara has announced its intention to launch in the second half of 2018 its first international lines from Delhi, its main base, to regional destinations in Asia by Airbus A320. According to an interview with Indian business magazine LivMint by its CEO Sanjiv Kappor, Vistara also plans to launch long-haul routes at the end of 2019, notably to Europe. If Air India is still in the running, there should be competition on routes from Delhi, certainly to Paris. At present, three carriers link France to India: Air France to Bombay, Delhi and Bangalore; Air India to Delhi and Jet Airways to Bombay and Madras.
