India’s aviation sector heats up as Air India Express announces competing Delhi-Amritsar flights from March 30, 2025, sparking internal airline competition concerns.
Air India Express is preparing to unveil a new Delhi–Amritsar service beginning March 30, 2025, a move that has sparked industry debate as it directly mirrors the schedule of its parent company, Air India, already operating on the same route. This unexpected overlap, reported by renowned Indian aviation analyst Ravreet Singh, raises significant concerns about internal competition within the Air India Group, potentially undermining the very principles of strategic airline network planning.
An Overlap That Could Hurt More Than Help
Rather than strengthening the group’s market position, this decision risks triggering a case of self-cannibalization. Instead of expanding market reach or diversifying flight options, Air India Express (AIX) is launching a service whose schedule almost perfectly mirrors Air India’s existing operations.
Flight Timings Overview:
- Air India Express:
- Delhi (DEL) – 11:10 → Amritsar (ATQ) – 12:30 | Flight IX1998
- Amritsar (ATQ) – 13:00 → Delhi (DEL) – 14:00 | Flight IX1999
- Air India:
- Delhi (DEL) – 11:00 → Amritsar (ATQ) – 12:20 | Flight AI491
- Amritsar (ATQ) – 13:00 → Delhi (DEL) – 14:20 | Flight AI492
With only a 10-minute gap between the Delhi departures and identical departure times from Amritsar, this scheduling duplication offers no added value in terms of frequency diversity or passenger choice—two critical factors in airline route planning.
Cannibalizing Instead of Capturing New Demand
This scheduling misstep may lead to adverse outcomes for both carriers. The most obvious consequence is fare dilution, as both airlines will likely compete for the same pool of travelers, forcing price reductions and diminishing profit margins without actually expanding the market size.
Further, Air India’s flights are well-integrated into its broader network, serving both direct travelers and transit passengers connecting via its robust Delhi hub. Air India Express, on the other hand, lacks significant domestic or international connectivity beyond Delhi, making it more reliant on point-to-point traffic. As a result, the new AIX service adds minimal strategic value to the group’s overall network footprint.
Adding to the inefficiency, Air India operates a 182-seat Airbus A321, while Air India Express plans to use a 180-seat A320. Instead of spreading capacity across different times of day to cover a wider market, both carriers are now at risk of operating nearly identical flights with low load factors, further straining revenue potential.
Missed Opportunities and Better Alternatives
According to Ravreet Singh, the move contradicts fundamental airline strategy, and Air India Express had several smarter alternatives that could have avoided internal rivalry while enhancing the group’s collective market presence.
Suggested Strategies Include:
- Staggered Flight Timing:
AIX could have opted for early morning or late evening departures, capturing a different segment of passengers while complementing, rather than competing with, Air India’s current schedule. - Hub Connectivity Alignment:
By syncing with Air India’s domestic and international network, AIX could have leveraged connecting traffic through Delhi, transforming point-to-point flights into multi-leg opportunities. - Product Differentiation:
Introducing unique onboard services, fare structures, or loyalty perks could have set AIX apart and justified its place on the route. Instead, its current offering is an almost identical replica of the existing service.
Singh points out that rather than fortifying the Air India Group’s market dominance, this decision risks fragmenting demand, weakening yields, and eroding network synergy. Without a strategic course correction ahead of the March 30 launch, both carriers could suffer from diluted capacity and lower efficiency.
Bookings Are Open, But So Are Questions
Despite the concerns raised, both Air India and Air India Express have already opened bookings for their respective services. However, industry observers now await whether management will reconsider this counterproductive scheduling clash or allow it to proceed at the risk of long-term repercussions on the group’s performance.
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