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Indian airlines will operate a total of 24,275 weekly domestic flights during the summer schedule starting from March 31, a nearly 6 per cent increase compared to the year-ago period. The number of weekly departures is just 2.30 per cent higher as against 23,732 flights being operated by the scheduled carriers in the ongoing winter schedule that ends on March 30, according to aviation regulator DGCA.
IndiGo, Air India and Vistara will operate more flights while SpiceJet will reduce departures during the 2024 summer schedule that spans from March 31 to October 26.
In the summer schedule, Indian carriers will connect 37 countries, including the US, the UK, Uzbekistan, Maldives, Georgia and Azerbaijan. The international flights will be operated from 27 domestic airports.
Domestic carriers will be operating 1,922 weekly international flights, a rise of 5.1 per cent compared to the 2023 summer schedule. In comparison to the ongoing winter schedule where the count of international weekly flights is 1,892, the increase is only 1.6 per cent.
Akasa Air, which is set to commence its overseas operations on March 28, is yet to file its schedule for international flights with the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
The regulator said there will be 24,275 domestic departures per week which have been finalised to/from 125 airports as per the summer schedule.
“Out of these 125 airports, Azamgarh, Aligarh, Chitrakoot, Gondia, Jalgaon, Moradabad and Pithoragarh are the new airports proposed by the scheduled airlines,” the watchdog said in a release on Thursday.
The country’s largest airline IndiGo will be operating 13.82 per cent more flights at 13,050 in the summer schedule, while Air India will increase its weekly departures by 4.59 per cent to 2,278.
Vistara will be operating 25.22 per cent more weekly flights at 2,324 while Akasa Air will increase their weekly domestic departures by 14.30 per cent to 903.
SpiceJet will be cutting down its weekly departures by 22.28 per cent to 1,657.
In terms of airports that will be operational during the summer schedule, Uttar Pradesh will have the maximum number at 14, followed by Maharashtra (11) and Gujarat (9).
In the international segment, Air India will operate 455 weekly flights, an increase of 5.1 per cent compared to the year-ago period.
The Mumbai airport will facilitate a total of 951 daily movements, up from approximately 882 in the previous summer schedule of 2023. With over 6,657 movements weekly, there will be a notable 8 per cent surge in weekly flight operations compared to the previous year, benefiting travellers from Mumbai and nearby cities.
IndiGo will have 13.5 per cent more international flights at 731 while Vistara will increase its weekly overseas departures by 50.8 per cent to 184. Air India Express’ departures will rise 20.8 per cent to 371 flights.
However, SpiceJet will be reducing its international flights by 12.6 per cent to 174. In the last summer schedule, Go First was to operate 120 weekly overseas flights. The carrier stopped flying in May 2023.
Alliance Air will operate 7 weekly international departures in the latest summer schedule compared to 4 in the year-ago period.
Air India, Air India Express and Vistara are part of the Tata Group, and Vistara is in the process of getting merged with Air India.
India’s civil aviation market is one of the fastest growing in the world but there are supply chain and engine woes that have also resulted in the grounding of many aircraft.
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