DGCA Approves Winter Flight Schedules
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has approved 23,732 weekly departures for the winter schedule, which will begin on October 29. This is 3.6% more than the ongoing summer schedule and 8.1% higher than last year”s winter schedule.
IndiGo will remain the leading carrier, with 55% of all flights approved this winter, or 11,465 weekly domestic departures. Air India and SpiceJet have 2,367 and 2,132 weekly domestic departures, respectively.
The highlight of this winter schedule is the absence of Go First, which grounded its operations in May and applied for voluntary insolvency procedures. Go First had operated 1,538 weekly flights during the summer schedule. However, IndiGo will make up for the void caused by Go First”s absence, with an additional 1,654 flights.
Additionally, Air India Express (483 additional weekly domestic departures), Air India (189 additional weekly domestic departures), Vistara (46 additional weekly domestic departures), and Akasa Air (39 additional weekly domestic departures) will further compensate for Go First”s absence.
SpiceJet and flybig are reducing their operations in the coming winter season compared to the summer season, while IndiGo will operate 14% more flights.
Compared to the previous winter, Akasa Air has increased the number of flights by 64%, Star Air by 61%, and IndiGo by 30%. Within the Tata Group airlines, Air India is raising capacity by 19%, while Vistara is reducing capacity and AirAsia India”s operations remain unchanged.
However, it is important to note that most airlines will not be able to operate the exact number of flights scheduled by the DGCA. Last summer, except for IndiGo and Akasa Air, all other airlines failed to reach the approved number.
According to the latest available data, compliance rates in August were poor. Vistara and Air India had compliance rates of 95% and 93.5%, respectively, while AirAsia India had a compliance rate of 86.7%. SpiceJet”s compliance was sub-par, with the airline operating less than 50% of its approved weekly departures in August.
Approval was granted for 24,372 weekly departures for the summer of 2020 before the pandemic hit. However, due to the lockdown and suspension of flights, the season never really started. When air services resumed, they were capped along with fares.
Since then, there have been many changes in the Indian skies. Go First is no longer flying, while Akasa Air is a new entrant. Air India has been privatized, Air India Express has started domestic operations, and two mergers are on the horizon.
Despite IndiGo growing by 20%, Vistara by 17.7%, and Air India by 12.29%, the approved winter schedule this year still falls 3% short of the summer 2020 schedule. SpiceJet has shrunk by half, and that is just with the allocation of slots, with actual operations even smaller.
The goal of crossing half a million daily domestic passengers may have to wait for now as airlines struggle to get more seats in the air. And when they eventually do, the hope is that they will not struggle to get passengers on those seats.
