Air India Soars High: Embracing the Future of Long-Haul Journeys!

The airline’s passenger earnings have surged 1.6 times over the last three years, while its aircraft capacity has expanded by 1.3 times, as stated by a senior official. Photo: Special Arrangement

Air India Group, which marks three years of its privatisation this month, has achieved the quickest growth in market share for remote international destinations such as the U.S., Europe, and Australia.

When the Tata Group assumed control of the airline from the government in January 2022, the airline’s passenger share on routes to North America, Europe, the U.K., Australia, East Asia, and Africa was at 16%. This percentage has climbed to 21% of the overall market share, where it stands as the sole Indian operator offering non-stop services since Jet Airways ceased operations in 2019. Air India, the full-service airline within the group, has introduced nine new routes to these locations, increasing the total long-haul routes served to 37.

Frequency of daily flights on these routes has more than doubled from 30 to 69. “We are extremely optimistic about the long-haul market,” commented the airline’s Chief Commercial Officer Nipun Aggarwal during a press briefing last week.

“Indian airlines capture only 21% of the entire international passenger market, presenting a potential for growth up to 50%,” he further added.

In contrast, the passenger share of the Group, including the budget carrier Air India Express, has risen by 4% to 30% on domestic routes, while short-haul international routes have experienced a modest increase of 1%.

Air India’s emphasis on long-haul markets is enhanced by its initiatives to boost traffic on metro-to-metro routes domestically, where the Group ranks as the second largest with a 30% market share. This strategy offers a stream of domestic passengers to its hubs in Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru, filling seats on international flights, while its low-cost division Air India Express concentrates on transporting passengers from non-metro areas to these hubs in addition to short-haul international routes.

These distant routes are also highly profitable for airlines, due to elevated airfares and a greater number of premium cabin seats among other factors. Air India generated nearly 50% of its total revenue from these routes, at $16 billion out of a total of $34 billion earned in the financial year 2024, although passengers flown to these regions accounted for only 11.7% of the total 222 million or 26 million passengers.

The senior executive indicated that the airline has witnessed a 1.6 times increase in passenger revenue while its aircraft capacity has expanded slightly less, at 1.3 times over the last three years.

To further bolster its long-haul strategy, the airline will likewise work to prevent diversions to foreign hubs such as Dubai, Doha, and Singapore by ensuring that Indian travelers utilize its flights.

The airline recognizes a substantial opportunity here, given that 80% of international travel involves one-stop flights, with only 20% flying direct, and from the former, a scant 15% of travel is through a major Indian airport, while the remaining 65% opt for an international connecting location.

To entice transit passengers, Air India has shortened connecting durations from six hours to three hours for domestic passengers and aims to reduce this further with improved schedules.

It also intends to attract travelers from SAARC and Southeast Asian nations to its domestic hubs to offer them onward connections to a third international point

“We aim to attract traffic from Southeast Asia, East Asia, and SAARC to the Indian subcontinent and subsequently transport them to Europe, the U.S., and Canada. Thus, we will concentrate on creating strong International to International (I2I) corridors at our hubs,” Mr. Aggarwal elucidated.

This currently represents 10% of the airline’s total international passengers, with the airline targeting to double this to 15% to 20% in the next two to three years.

The airline’s long-haul objectives are backed by 11 leased Boeing 777s deployed on important routes like New York, San Francisco, and London, alongside several of its six new Airbus A350s. Furthermore, some of the seven Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners from former Vistara are now operating routes such as Frankfurt and London. These augment Air India’s fleet of 40 legacy widebody Boeing 777s and 787s, which are scheduled for retrofitting starting in the second half of 2025, after the upgrade of 27 narrow-body aircraft.

The upgraded widebody aircraft will include a 50% increase in premium economy and business class seats, catering to high-paying travelers desiring enhanced comfort post-Covid.

Air India also intends to add first-class compartments on its upcoming Airbus A350-1000s, though delivery timelines are still pending confirmation. The airline is slated to receive its first Boeing 787-9 from its extensive 570 aircraft order in the latter half of 2025, having already incorporated 41 aircraft since 2023.