India, China airlines to vie for bigger market share

Indian carriers led by IndiGo and Air India are poised for a head-to-head battle with Chinese carriers to grab a bigger share of the lucrative India-China sector, which is being opened up once again for direct flights after suspension of operations for over five years from early 2020.

- SURAJEET DAS GUPTA

In 2019, when direct flights were on, Chinese carriers China Eastern, China Southern, China Air, and Shandong werethekings, collectively dominating with an 89 per cent share of India-China seats, according to CAPA-OAG data. Air India, the only big player in the international space, was in financial trouble, managing with an 11 per cent share and flying mostly from Delhi to Shanghai and Beijing.

In September 2019, IndiGo entered the fray with a Delhi-Chengdu flight, and then added another from Kolkata to Guangzhou the next month, soon grabbing 16.8 per cent of the overall market, the data showed. But then Covid intervened.

On October 26 this year, IndiGo will be resuming its services between Kolkata and theindustrial hub of Guangzhou. It will flyon this route thrice a week. The airline is also readying for another flight from Delhi to Guangzhou, thought the date for its launch has notyet been finalised.