First six months in Indian aviation have been all about the growth of IndiGo and Akasa Air
The first six months in Indian aviation can be summarized by record breaking orders by IndiGo and Air India; an airline suspending operations and filing for bankruptcy voluntarily and Akasa Air in its first year of operation scaling newer heights.
As the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) declared the air traffic report for June 2023, it threw up a few surprises. For the month of June, Akasa Air climbed up to fifth spot as SpiceJet slid to sixth. It will only get difficult from here on for SpiceJet to challenge the airlines ahead of us, despite the promoter Ajay Singh deciding to invest INR 500 crore in the airline. As traffic dropped nearly six percent over May, IndiGo gained market share by 1.8%, Air India gained 0.3%, while AirAsia India and Akasa Air gained 0.1% each. On the other hand, SpiceJet and Vistara lost 1% and 0.9% respectively.
In absolute passenger numbers, only flybig carried more passengers in June over May, while IndiGo saw a drop of 2.17 lakh passengers in June over May.
The story of gaining market share
At the end of January, IndiGo’s market share stood at 54.6%. This was followed by Air India, Vistara, Go FIRST, AirAsia India and SpiceJet. IndiGo has steadily gained market share between 1-2% each month since then to corner 63.2% market share in June, its highest ever market share by IndiGo and the third time that IndiGo has crossed the 60% market share mark.
The other story of gaining market share has been Akasa Air, which closed the month of January with a 2.8% market share. Come June, it dethroned SpiceJet to occupy the fifth spot. It does help to have an airline less in the count, but for Akasa Air – which was often questioned on how will it survive amongst as many players, a mix of being at the right place at the right moment and fall of others has helped tremendously.
The first six months
At the end of June, IndiGo maintains the market share lead with 58.2% in 2023. No other carrier has a double digit market share! Air India comes in next with 9.1%, followed by Vistara at 8.7%, further followed by AirAsia India at 7.6%. The Tata group of airlines have a consolidated share of 26.4% at the end of first half of 2023.
SpiceJet has a market share of 6.1%. The airline has been shrinking since the last couple of months and while it has plans of inducting additional aircraft and has already announced a handful of new routes. The settlements with lessors may still not be enough as it in the middle of multiple legal and operational challenges.
Akasa Air stands at 3.8% at the end of first half of the year, short of Go FIRST’s 5%. With Go FIRST unlikely to start immediately and even if it does, it would be a slow start which means Akasa Air will go past Go FIRST soon.
Tail Note
When the year began, the focus was on large orders. On one hand, large orders were being placed and on another an airline has shut shop and another one struggles. Amidst this, the newest airline is cruising ahead. How does one read the market? The Indian market is as complex as ever, even when the industry moves towards a duopoly.
All of this has potential to further change, if the aircraft deliveries are streamlined which will then throw up challenges on other fronts like airports and pilots. Amidst this, the focus is international for almost every airline and a new battle would soon be brewing there. Watch this space for some interesting tit bits on the international front, soon.