Cathay Pacific, which had reduced frequency to India from 35 flights a week to 23 in early 2009, plans to raise it to 35 per week once again. Tom Wright, general manager (India, Middle East, Africa and Pakistan) at Cathay said, ?We are looking to increase the number of flights in and out of India again. Our passenger bookings globally, including bookings in India have been robust. The Indian market contributes around 2.5-3% to Cathay?s global revenues,? he added.
Most foreign airlines that have plans to increase frequencies, have the flying rights as per the air service agreement which they signed a couple of years ago.
Currently, there are 1,070 international flights per week operating from various Indian airports. Over 69 international carriers from 49 countries operate in and out of India. Also, nearly 40% of the international traffic is concentrated in Mumbai and Delhi and Bangalore airports followed by Kolkata and Hyderabad. Last year, airlines like Kuwait-based Jazeera Airways discontinued their Mumbai operations. Delta Air Lines suspended its non-stop flight from Atlanta to Mumbai in October 2009, prompted by lower projected passenger demand. Many of these carriers could be looking to increase frequencies in the light of a fast-improving economy. They would also hope for more facilities at airports.
Currently, the Mumbai airport handles 24.8 million passengers while the Delhi airport can handle 22.9 million. Both airports are being upgraded to allow them to handle volumes that are higher by 30-40%. A recent KPMG report said India has only 141 airports that are usable by large commercial aircraft for a population of 1.1 billion. This translates to a staggering 7.8 million people per airport, a ratio that is very high as compared to many of the developed economies and almost double than the comparable China.