IndiGo beats A-I group in int'l scheduled flights, seats

IndiGo, which has been expanding in a big way abroad, has overtaken the Air India group in the number of scheduled flights as well as seats during this winter schedule (October-March).

- SURAJEET DAS GUPTA

While the airline is grappling with problems in its domestic sector, IndiGo, according to global aviation analytics company Cirium, has rung up a 14.5 per cent increase this international winter schedule — up to 44,035 flights between October 26 and March 27 next year — over the previous winter schedule (October 27 last year to March 26), when it had 38,481 flights.

In contrast, the Air India group, which has Air India and Air India Express, has trimmed its winter schedule by over 9 per cent, with the number of flights dropping from 45,958 last winter to 41,626 this time. The number of fights and seats cleared by the ministry of civil aviation of course can be changed or tweaked.

IndiGo increased its seats from 7.4 million to 8.6 million.