Thai AirAsia Follows Partner Carrier Out of Delhi

Less than a month after low-cost, long-haul carrier AirAsia X announced it would suspend its flights into India from Kuala Lumpur, the airline’s sister venture, Bangkok-based Thai AirAsia, has revealed it too will stop serving Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi. The airline currently offers up to five rotations per week but will reduce to four weekly flights ahead of the closure of the route in March 2012.

Thai AirAsia says structural issues in the Indian aviation market have made it difficult to operate economically viable flights. These relate primarily to general airport and handling costs, particularly with the recent approval of a 280 per cent increase in fees from April this year but also the high taxation on aviation fuel in the country.

The budget carrier had an eight per cent share of the estimated 521,000 O&D passengers that travelled on the Bangkok – New Delhi route during the past year, one of the most competitive markets in the world. There are currently eight airlines providing flights between the two cities, seven on an at least daily basis.

A number of leading global carriers have suggested that they too could end operations to New Delhi due to the high costs and Air France-KLM, British Airways and Lufthansa have all publicly stated their opposition to the increased fees. At a recent meeting with India’s Airport Economic Regulatory Authority all three carriers suggested they could reconsider their network plans in India and could reallocate capacity into alternate areas.