Dubai: Dubai-based Emirates in 2011-12 flew more international passengers in and out of India than the Indian national carrier, Air India, as per the recently released official data.
The report says, in 2011-12 Emirates flew 4.532 million passengers in and out of India amounting to 13.04 per cent share of the total Indian market while Air India and its subsidiary Air India Express put together carried 4.138 million passengers in the corresponding period, the figure translating into 11.91 per cent share of the market.
Emirates currently flies 185 flights a week to India via 10 gateways. And West Asia and Indian Ocean region, of which India constitutes the largest contributor, accounted for Dh7,083 million in revenue for Emirates in the financial year 2011-2012, representing an 11.5 per cent share for the region within Emirates, an Emirates spokesperson said. The carrier said last year it has contributed $596 million to the Indian economy.
Meanwhile Qatar Airways and Air Arabia, the other two Gulf carriers grabbed market shares of 4.41 per cent and 4.31 per cent respectively in the period, according to the report.
In India, however, Jet Airways had 15.7 per cent market share, followed by Kingfisher Airlines which was in operations during the period with 3.24 per cent share, IndiGo 1.19 per cent, SpiceJet 0.86 per cent and JetLite 0.31 per cent.
Aviation analysts attribute the development to regulatory regime that denied Indian airlines access to capital, markets and expertise. It should stop hiding behind protectionism and trade barriers, they opine.
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