The largest airline in India, IndiGo, overtook US-based Southwest Airlines as the third most valuable airline globally in terms of market value.
IndiGo Overtakes Southwest Airlines As Third Most Valuable Airline
On Wednesday, IndiGo’s share price increased by 4.73% to Rs 3,806, exceeding Southwest’s market value of $17.333 billion to reach a market capitalization of $17.605 billion.
In terms of market capitalization, Ryanair ($26.941 billion) and Delta Airlines ($30.442 billion) are the two largest airlines worldwide.
According to Bloomberg data, among the top 10 airlines worldwide, IndiGo is the sole Indian carrier.
IndiGo currently has 14,014 weekly flights, an increase of 11.2% from April of previous year.
In June 2023, IndiGo ordered 500 A320neo family aircraft from Airbus, making it one of the largest airplane orders in history. Significant aircraft orders were also placed by the Air India Group in February 2023, totaling 470 aircraft—250 from Airbus and 220 from Boeing.
India’s Aviation Market To Expand To Become Global Aviation Hub
In the next fifteen years, India’s aviation market is expected to expand to become the global aviation hub due to factors including capacity expansion, competently operated carriers, and rising demand.
Airbus sees a lot of promise for Indian aviation, taking into account things like GDP development, increased domestic travel, regaining foreign traffic, and India’s position as a connecting hub.
As per Edward Delahaye, Head of Customer Accounts for India and South Asia at Airbus, “If you add domestic traffic growth, the GDP growth in the country, recapturing a lot of international traffic from other international airports, and establishing India as a connecting place in the world, I think the prospects of Indian aviation are very bright, well beyond what we are seeing today.”
There are currently about 800 commercial aircraft flying in Indian skies, most of which are supplied by the European aircraft manufacturer Airbus.
Here are the top global airline companies by market capitalization (Mcap) as of April 10:
Delta Air Lines Inc (United States) – Mcap $30,442 Mn (Change $199 Mn)
Ryanair Holdings PLC (Ireland) – Mcap $26,941 Mn (Change $569 Mn)
InterGlobe Aviation (India) – Mcap $17,605 Mn (Change $759 Mn)
Southwest Airlines Co (United States) – Mcap $17,333 Mn (Change $239 Mn)
Air China (China) – Mcap $14,519 Mn (Change $140 Mn)
Singapore Airlines (Singapore) – Mcap $14,321 Mn (Change $224 Mn)
United Airlines Holdings Inc (United States) – Mcap $14,283 Mn (Change $43 Mn)
Turk Hava Yollari AO (Turkey) – Mcap $13,228 Mn (Change -$123 Mn)
China Southern Airlines Co (China) – Mcap $12,170 Mn (Change $61 Mn)
International Consolidated Air (Britain) – Mcap $11,131 Mn (Change $277 Mn)
ANA Holdings Inc (Japan) – Mcap $10,028 Mn (Change -$23 Mn)
China Eastern Airlines Corp (China) – Mcap $9,743 Mn (Change $93 Mn)
Deutsche Lufthansa AG (Germany) – Mcap $9,533 Mn (Change $220 Mn)
American Airlines Group Inc (United States) – Mcap $9,117 Mn (Change $33 Mn)
Japan Airlines Co (Japan) – Mcap $8,350 Mn (Change $161 Mn)
