India
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Indian carriers cut international flights 19% in H1
Livemint··2 Sept
Domestic carriers operated 87,768 international departures from India in the first half of 2026, down 19 percent from 107,882 a year earlier. Total international passengers flying out of India fell 7 percent to 18.40 million from 19.71 million. Indian airlines carried 7.3 million passengers, down 19.4 percent, while foreign carriers carried 11.1 million, up 4.2 percent from 10.65 million.
Prism
What It Means For You
- Emirates carried 1.40 million passengers from India in January-June 2026 versus 1.44 million a year earlier.
- Etihad carried 830,000 passengers, up from 800,000, and Singapore Airlines grew to 680,000 from 640,000.
- SpiceJet international departures fell 41 percent to 2,604 from 4,377.
What's Happening
- Air India group's combined international departures fell 26 percent to 39,136 in January-June.
- IndiGo's international departures fell 10 percent to 43,353 from 48,082 a year earlier.
- Akasa's international departures increased about 38 percent to 2,675 from 1,936.
What Drove The Capacity Cuts
- Air India began cutting routes in April as group-level losses surged past Rs 22,000 crore.
- IndiGo chief Pieter Elbers called the past 12 to 18 months an extreme set of external conditions.
- Closure of Pakistani airspace drove up operating costs for Indian airlines.
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