2 days Ago
New Delhi: Air India is weighing a potential entry into India's growing regional aviation space, stepping up rivalry with market leader IndiGo which is growing its own turboprop fleet to advance its regional ambitions. The Tata group airline has held internal discussions on a potential regional expansion, two people aware of the matter said. Regional aviation includes flights from metros to smaller cities, as well as between smaller cities.
Also read | “Discussions were held on the matter. These are internal discussions and there will be further rounds of assessment on this before a final decision is taken. The opportunity in the regional space is staring us in the face and the intent is to provide a complete travel solution to Indian travellers," one of the officials cited above said on condition of anonymity.
An Air India spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment sent on Wednesday. Benefits of connectivity India’s regional aviation has benefited from a government-funded regional connectivity scheme called UDAN, and an increase in airport infrastructure in smaller towns. According to industry estimates, Indian airlines operated close to 200,000 regional flights during 2023, the bulk of which were flown by IndiGoandSpiceJet.
As per data from global aviation data company OAG, India, along with Central and West Africa have been outliers in regional flight operations, clocking an increase of 4-5% in regional jet frequencies since 2019, in contrast to the global s.
