Last month at the Paris Airshow, India’s budget airline IndiGo placed an order of 500 A320neo aircraft from Airbus, making the multibillion-dollar deal the largest by a single carrier in civil aviation history. Earlier in the year in February, the newly privatized Air India had placed an order of 470 narrow and widebody jets from both Boeing and Airbus.
In such a rapidly growing market, the presence of two large and established players could lead to price increases in the future. “India does look to move towards just two main players in the aviation space in future. While there remains a fear of a duopoly, the Air India group will take a while to consolidate,” Amey Joshi, an independent aviation analyst, told Reuters.
Since 2010, two full service carriers have ceased operations in India. Kingfisher Airlines shut in 2012 after it could not pay its outstanding dues to aircraft lessors, oil companies, airports and salaries to its staff. Jet Airways met with the same fate in 2019 due to similar reasons. The last long-standing competitor SpiceJet is not without its problems. Its market share decreased to 4.4% in June 2023 from 13.4% in January 2019. Its financials have not been too rosy either as it has posted a loss in eight of its last 10 quarters, and its share price has fallen by 18% in 2023. Currently, its share trading has been suspended. It also faces insolvency pleas from lessors.