During the upcoming winter season, India’s airlines are set to increase their flight operations by more than 8%, with a total of 23,732 weekly flight departures, according to regulatory data. This figure also represents a 1.4% rise compared to the winter schedule in 2019, a pre-pandemic period.
India’s Winter Flight Schedule Sees Robust Growth Despite Go First Gap
In contrast to the summer schedule, which saw airlines proposing 22,907 flight departures, the winter schedule will experience a 3.6% growth in flight deployments. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in India approves flight departures for airlines biannually, creating schedules for both summer and winter. The winter schedule is scheduled to be in effect from October 29 to March 30.
The absence of the low-cost carrier Go First, which grounded its flights in May, has left a significant gap of more than 1,300 flight departures. This is because Go First had scheduled that many departures during the previous winter.
Indian Airlines Announce Varied Flight Deployment Plans for Upcoming Winter Season
Among major carriers, IndiGo, India’s largest airline, will see the most substantial increase in deployment, with a proposal to operate 13,119 flight departures, marking a 30% increase from the previous year’s 10,085 departures. Air India is expected to experience a 19% growth, as it has proposed 2,367 flight departures compared to 1,990 last year. The cumulative proposed flight departures for AirAsia India and Air India Express total 1,940 flights, up from 1,462 in the previous year. In contrast, Vistara will see a 2% decrease in proposed flight deployments to 1,902 flight departures per week.
Akasa Air is set to increase its weekly flight departures by 5% compared to the summer schedule and by an impressive 65% from the previous winter schedule, totaling 790 flights a week. However, SpiceJet, which continues to face capacity constraints, is expected to see a 33% decrease from the previous year and a 5% dip from the summer schedule, proposing 2,132 flights per week.
The DGCA also noted that the winter schedule proposes flights from new airports such as Bathinda, Jaisalmer, Ludhiana, Nanded, Shivamogga, Salem, Utkela, Hindon, and Ziro. Notably, operations from Gondia airport are not included in the Winter Schedule for 2023.
