Aviation information and intelligence provider OAG views the Indian market as one that is dynamic. The advent and growth of the Low Cost Carrier (LCC) model in India is evident and the progress of the model world over has been predicted to continue. Speaking with T3, Rob Shaw, Director of Analytics, OAG stated that the LCC model is evolving and a lot of those changes are in Asia.
“When you look at airlines like Scoot and Tiger Airways, they are starting to adopt a transfer type of model, i.e. flying transfer passengers, rather than the traditional model where they flew passengers point to point. I think what we will see is an evolution in the LCC model being adopted into Europe and USA going forward. Within India, as the industry grows, it will see similar initiatives in the next couple of years,” he opined.
He suggested that the best way for LCCs to grow is through a free and open market. “The European or American LCC market are the founders of that type of flying. The expansion they have seen has reached a point of saturation. In Asia it’s still in growth stage, and in India, as the market opens up to allow new routes and new hubs, and grows organically, it is going to open up new markets and more demand for those flights,” he said.
Throwing light on the position and future of the Indian aviation sector, Shaw explained that the total capacity within the market has been hit by the demise of Kingfisher, which has essentially taken capacity out of India as the aircraft it used has been returned and utilised elsewhere. “Capacity in India is the same if not lower compared to this time last year. It will increase as carriers take up some of that dropped capacity,” he said.
According to him, new opportunities are arising, such as the AirAsia initiative, which will add new routes, open new markets and give impetus to the low cost market to compete with Indian LCC operators. “The government can support the carriers’ growth by making sure that they can get the availability, slots and flight routes quickly and efficiently. A stringent bureaucratic process can constrain the growth of carriers coming into the Indian market. That is a key area for the country to grow the market as a whole,” he concluded.
