AI in Aviation Transforming India's Skies and Beyond

The accelerated adoption of technology and the integration of Artificial Intelligence are facilitating a significant transformative change that holds the potential to redefine the travel experience. PRASANNA SUBRAMANIAM, Chief Technology Officer, Fly91, outlines the potential and the possibilities.

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India’s aviation industry is expected to contribute approximately $250 billion to India’s GDP with the industry expecting to mirror the GDP growth of 7 per cent roughly. The number of airline routes in India has seen a whopping increase from 209 in April 2014 to 605 routes in April 2024. Tier 2 and Tier 3 connectivity has contributed a lot to this growth numbers. More than 40 per cent of the passengers are travelling between the Metro and Non-Metro parts of India.

As of Jan 2025, the number of passengers is expected to be roughly 162 million and the is expected to touch 3.8 billion by 2040. This underscores the massive opportunity that our airline industry has, and the next decade will be the golden period to spearhead the growth phase.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND GROWTH AREAS

Faster technology adoption and integration of Artificial Intelligence help in having a healthy transformative shift with a promise to redefine the travel experience. Shifts in technology trends will play a pivotal role in streamlining operations, improving efficiencies, personalizing travel experiences, and capitalising on revenue-increasing opportunities. AI is not merely an enhancement but a catalyst for growth in India’s burgeoning aviation market.

AI’s transformative potential can be categorized into 2 critical areas:

1. Revenue Improvement

2. Cost Optimization

Let us explore these domains in depth to understand how the future of aviation can be redefined.

REVENUE IMPROVEMENT

Demand Sensing: Accurate understanding of the demand helps the airlines in having better pricing strategies. AI models can easily support doing multi-variate analysis using factors such as the number of ticket searches, festive seasons, local events, weather conditions, and demographics of the place, and understanding the multi-modal transport ecosystem to forecast the fluctuations.