IndiGo’s Move to Capture Global Travelers – India Report

In its latest move to attract international travelers, budget carrier IndiGo has entered into a codeshare agreement with Malaysian Airlines. In a codeshare agreement, partner airlines are able to sell seats in flights operated by the other carrier. 

IndiGo is not alone in fostering codeshare agreements: other domestic airlines including Vistara and Air India have been using this to strengthen India’s connectivity with other countries. As Indian travelers increase and look to travel more, international connections are important for Indian airlines to capture a larger share of the market. 

Indian airlines held a 43% share of India’s international passenger traffic last fiscal year. In the April to June quarter, this figure was more than 45%: an increase of over 10 percentage points as compared to pre-pandemic figures. Credit rating agency CRISIL Ratings expects this to increase to 50% by the 2027-28 fiscal year.

Increasing international connectivity is important for Indian carriers as carriers in the Middle East, such as Emirates and Qatar Airways, have been seeking grants of more flying rights to operate an increased number of flights to and from India. Apart from this, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Turkey are also seeking more flying rights to and from India. 

Indian airlines such as Air India and SpiceJet have been against granting more flying rights to airlines from other countries. They have instead been calling for more focus on developing hubs within India to benefit domestic airlines. Air India CEO Campbell Wilson had said that granting more bilateral rights would feed the economies of those countries instead of India’s as they would take traffic from India and transfer about 80-90% of it to other parts of the world.

Earlier this year, IndiGo Chairman V Sumantran had said that India is becoming a convenient hub for travel between Southeast Asia and the Middle East. 

Codeshare Agreements: A flight under the codeshare agreement is assigned flight codes for each of the partner airlines. As part of the agreement with Malaysia Airlines, domestic flights operated by the Malaysian flag carrier in Malaysia will get IndiGo’s flight code ‘6E’. Meanwhile, Malaysia Airlines’ flight code ‘MH’ will be added to flights to 7 Indian destinations. 

Over the years, IndiGo has been using the codeshare agreement to bolster its international network. Apart from Malaysia Airlines, it has codeshare partnerships with Turkish Airlines, British Airways, Japan Airlines, Qatar Airways, American Airlines, Air France-KLM, Qantas, and Virgin Atlantic.

IndiGo’s fleet currently only includes narrowbody planes, and it only placed its first-ever widebody aircraft order earlier this year. It had, therefore, relied on such partnerships to offer long-haul connectivity to its customers. IndiGo was able to expand its international connectivity to more than 80 destinations through such agreements.

U.S. Top International Source for Diwali in India

Travelers from the U.S. have shown the most interest in experiencing Diwali celebrations in India, online travel agency Agoda has said. The United Kingdom, Singapore, Malaysia, and Japan round up the top 5 source markets for the Diwali period. 

The platform has noted a 17% increase in international inbound accommodation searches for the festival. Delhi is the most preferred destination for international travelers, followed by Goa, Mumbai, Chennai, and Jaipur. 

In terms of domestic travel, accommodation searches have increased by 23%, with Goa being the preferred destination. Udaipur, Mumbai, Pondicherry, and Jaipur are also among top searched destinations by Indian travelers. 

Merged AIX Connect Most Punctual Airline in September

Newly merged budget carrier AIX Connect had the most on-time performance among domestic carriers during September, data from aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation showed. Akasa Air, meanwhile, slipped from its top spot in August to the fifth place. 

During the month, 13 million passengers traveled on Indian carriers, an increase of 6.38% from last September. India’s two largest airlines IndiGo and Air India saw their market share increasing: 63% and 15.1% respectively. For both the airlines, this is the highest their market share has been in any month in 2024. 

Air India, Travelport to Fast-Track NDC Content Delivery

Full-service airline Air India and global technology company Travelport are accelerating the launch of New Distribution Capability (NDC) content and servicing for Travelport-connected agencies. Travelport works as a global distributor of Air India. 

Agencies using Travelport’s platform will be able to access the NDC content by the end of this year, Travelport has said in a statement. 

NDC has been developed by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and is meant to provide travelers with a more transparent and personalized booking experience. 

Online travel agency Yatra has also integrated NDC into its booking system, it said on Wednesday. The agency aims to make “air travel bookings smoother and more tailored for its corporate customers.”

Minor Hotels Appoints Rohit Chopra as Area Commercial Director For India

Minor Hotels has appointed Rohit Chopra as Area Commercial Director, India. The decision comes as the hospitality group looks to expand its footprint in the country, it has said in a statement. 

Chopra will be responsible for driving commercial activities in India. His focus will remain on growing revenue and increasing customer loyalty. Chopra is joining the group from Accor, where he worked since 2013. 

IHCL Brings Gateway Brand to Prayagraj

Indian Hotels Company (IHCL) has announced the signing of a Gateway-branded resort in Prayagraj. The 150-key property is a greenfield project: it will be constructed from scratch. 

With this, the company has 29 hotels in Uttar Pradesh, with 16 under development. The development is the latest in IHCL’s focus on Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities, especially religious destinations. The company has signed four hotels in Varanasi and earlier this year, also signed a Gateway property in Sarnath.