Air India in ‘survival mode’ while rivals expand capacity

A depleted fleet, surging fuel costs, and airspace closures squeeze the Tata group-owned carrier

- Abhishek Law

Air India has reduced domestic capacity by up to 5% and international capacity by nearly 40% year-on-year.

Air India is cutting domestic and international capacity this summer, operating up to 5% fewer flights on domestic routes and nearly 40% fewer on international routes compared with a year ago, as a depleted fleet, surging jet fuel costs, and war-related airspace closures squeeze the Tata group-owned carrier.

The airline and its low-cost subsidiary Air India Express together offered roughly 9.24 million domestic seats in April and May, down from 9.71 million a year ago, even as India's largest carrier, IndiGo, expanded domestic capacity 6% to 23.04 million seats and newcomer Akasa Air grew 9% to 1.63 million seats, according to data from aviation analytics firm OAG reviewed by Mint. Seats are a measure of capacity for airlines.