Top Markets:
With over 11 non-stop scheduled routes between India & UK in April 2023, about 231,000 passengers travelled non-stop between the two countries during the month.
In terms of non-stop traffic, Delhi remained at the top spot, with about 99,970 passengers, followed by Mumbai with 88,806 and Bengaluru at 13,946.
Among the 5 major metro cities of India, Amritsar was at the 4th spot with 10,842 passengers, followed by Chennai & Hyderabad at 5th and 6th spot respectively with 10,549 and 9,692 passengers.
Air India’s First Month At London Gatwick:
During the same time period, Air India completed 1 month of operations at London Gatwick. The airline experienced strong load factors on all 4 routes, especially from Cochin and Ahmedabad.
Picture Courtesy: gcmap.com
The traffic data for all the 4 routes is as below:
Cochin:
Traffic: 5,920
Average Passenger Load Factor (PLF): 88.94%
Ahmedabad:
Traffic: 5,908
Average PLF: 88.76%
Goa:
Traffic: 5,736
Average PLF: 82.98%
Amritsar:
Traffic: 5,292
Average PLF: 76.56%
India-Birmingham Market:
Air India’s non-stop routes to #Birmingham from both #Amritsar and #Delhi also performed well with strong load factors.
The traffic data for both these routes is as below:
Amritsar:
Traffic: 5,550
Average PLF: 83.38%
Delhi:
Traffic: 5,217
Average PLF: 78.38%
Who Leads The Market?
(As of June 2023)
In terms of number of routes, Air India leads the India-UK market with 49x weekly services on 8 non-stop routes.
The airline enjoys full-monopoly on 6 of these routes, including 4 to London Gatwick from Amritsar, Ahmedabad, Goa & Cochin and 2 to Birmingham from Amritsar & Delhi.
British Airways follows Air India with 49x weekly services, however, operating only 5 non-stop routes between the two countries. The airline continues to enjoy full-monopoly on 3 of its routes, including Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Chennai from London Heathrow.
Virgin Atlantic takes the 3rd spot in this market with routes to Delhi & Mumbai from London Heathrow, operating 21x weekly services. The airline will expand its network in India, with launch of non-stop route between London Heathrow and Bengaluru in April 2024.
The soon to merged Vistara with Air India, operates 12x weekly non-stop services to London Heathrow from Delhi & Mumbai.
