The landscape of Indian aviation has witnessed dramatic structural shifts post-pandemic, characterized by aggressive widebody expansions, strategic bilateral utilizations, and a relentless push by Indian carriers to recapture market share from foreign hub-and-spoke giants. As air traffic numbers reach new heights, an analysis of the top 25 international sectors during the first quarter of financial year 2025–2026 (Q1-FY26) provides critical insights into where India travels, which hubs hold structural dominance, and how origin-destination dynamics are shifting. This data is based on the data released by the regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and does not show the end destination for the passenger, but merely the first leg if it is a multi leg journey.
Across the top 25 international city-pairs, a staggering 6.45 million passengers took to the skies during the quarter, accounting for over 33.37% of India’s entire international air passenger market. One third of the first quarter saw the impact of the West Asia war but little did it do to change how India travels. In a market with reduced seats and passengers, the Dubai domination continued with Mumbai – Dubai – Mumbai and Delhi – Dubai – Delhi remainging the top two sectors, followed by Delhi – London – Delhi and Mumbai – London – Delhi.
Geographic Breakdown: Origin Strengths and Destination Hotspots
To understand the underlying dynamics of these 25 premier routes, we can classify them by their point of origin within India and their primary international destinations outside the country.
From an Indian origin perspective, the market remains highly centralized around major metro gateways, with six cities capturing the entirety of the top 25 list. Delhi (DEL) emerges as the undisputed international capital of India, anchoring 11 out of the top 25 sectors. Mumbai (BOM) follows as a powerful second engine with 6 major sectors, down south, Chennai (MAA) showcases robust regional demand across 3 sectors, while Kochi (COK) punches far above its weight class with 2 heavy-duty Gulf sectors, . Bengaluru (BLR) holds 2 sectors, and Hyderabad (HYD) rounds out the elite list with a single, highly dense Middle Eastern trunk route to Dubai. Beyond Kochi, no other city has been able to make a mark outside the metro airports while Kolkata has lost out significantly by not having even a single route amongst the top 25 international routes.
When looking at the destination side of the equation, the concentration of traffic highlights India’s deep economic, cultural, and labor ties with specific global regions. The 25 sectors funnel into just 12 unique international destinations. Dubai (DXB) sits at the apex of global connectivity for Indian travelers, commanding 6 independent routes from 6 different Indian gateways. The wider Middle East region consolidates this dominance further via Abu Dhabi (AUH) with 3 sectors, Jeddah (JED) with 2 sectors , and Doha (DOH) with 2 sectors. Outside the Gulf, Southeast Asia acts as the second primary pillar, led by Singapore (SIN) across 4 sectors and Bangkok (BKK) with a single dense leisure route from Delhi . True long-haul travel is represented by the massive capacity deployed to London (LHR) across 2 sectors , alongside standalone long-haul routes to Paris (CDG), Toronto (YYZ), Hong Kong (HKG), Kathmandu (KTM), and Colombo (CMB). This is the summary of only top 25 routes and not the entire international network across India.
The Unshakable Dominance of the Euro-Gulf and South Asian Trunk Routes
A closer examination of the individual rankings reinforces known market realities while highlighting subtle operational nuances. The Mumbai – Dubai – Mumbai route retains its position as the number one international crown jewel of Indian aviation, clocking 615,884 passengers (3.18% of total international traffic). Hot on its heels is Delhi – Dubai – Delhi at 568,354 passengers (2.94%).
What is particularly noteworthy is the immense strength of the Delhi – London – Delhi sector at Rank 3. Clocking 441,641 passengers (2.28%), this point-to-point trunk route underscores the massive premium and VFR (Visiting Friends and Relatives) demand linking northern India to the UK. When combined with Mumbai – London – Mumbai (Rank 4, 314,847 passengers), the London market alone commands nearly 4% of the entire country’s international footprint. This explains why Indian carriers are aggressively inducting dual-class and triple-class widebody aircraft to squeeze out higher yields from these premium paths. British Airways and Virgin Atlantic are slated to add capacity to India starting next month.
Key Takeaways for Airline Strategies
1. The Gulf vs. Southeast Asia Tug-of-War
The data proves that the “Point-to-Point vs. Hub-and-Spoke” battle is far from over. Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Doha combined make up over 16.7% of the total international market share within the top 25 alone. Much of this traffic is onward connecting to Europe and North America. However, Singapore and Bangkok’s high volumes demonstrate strong, organic point-to-point corporate and leisure demand that continues to grow robustly.
2. The Non-Metro Missing Link
While Kochi shows how strong tier-2 regional international migration traffic can be, the complete absence of secondary cities like Ahmedabad, Amritsar, or Lucknow from the top 25 points to a heavily centralized hub model. Airlines like Air India and IndiGo are working to change this by introducing direct flights from non-metros, but the pull of Delhi and Mumbai as primary consolidation hubs remains absolute.
3. Ultra-Long-Haul Resilience
The appearance of Delhi – Toronto – Delhi at Rank 24 with 155,468 passengers is an impressive operational feat. Operating non-stop ultra-long-haul routes is notoriously complex and expensive, yet the high volume proves that Indian travelers are increasingly willing to pay a premium for direct flights to bypass stressful mid-point transfers in Europe or the Middle East.
Network Thoughts
As we progress further into CY26, the capacity numbers on these top 25 sectors will likely face interesting challenges. Bilateral air service agreement limits with key Gulf countries mean that any further growth on these top routes will have to come from upgrading to larger aircraft (upgauging) or improving load factors rather than adding more daily flights.
For Indian carriers looking to build a global footprint, the blueprint is clear: protect your share on the high-volume Dubai and Singapore trunks, but aggressively deploy new widebody capacity on long-haul sectors like London, Paris, and Toronto where direct point-to-point options can easily win passengers away from foreign hub carriers.
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