This week’s Flight Friday looks under the hood at Indian operator utilization.

With the recent announcement by Akasa Air that it was behind a December 2023 undisclosed order for 150 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, both -10’s and -8-200’s, Akasa looks to be filling a gap left in the market after the demise of GoAir (“Go First” is the company’s airline brand name).

Prior to GoAir ceasing operations in May 2023, it was operating, at its peak, almost 9,000 monthly flights. Akasa Air, which started commercial operations in August 2022, is operating an average of 3,500 flights per month. With an order book of over 200 MAX aircraft, Akasa will look to cement their place as a top Indian carrier.

IndiGo continues to go from strength to strength, as it continues to add aircraft to its fleet that already tallies over 350 aircraft, with almost 1,000 further aircraft on order.

Air India’s utilization is climbing and is firmly in second place of the Indian operators. Air India has orders for over 400 aircraft as it looks to establish itself as a connecting carrier, like the large Middle East carriers. However, there is still a journey for Indian aviation to undertake, with infrastructure improvements needed to allow all these movements and to entice passengers to connect via India.

Vistara currently has a larger fleet than SpiceJet, which is reflected when comparing utilization; however, Vistara only has a handful of aircraft on order, with SpiceJet having more than 140 on order. So, unless Vistara takes steps to increase its fleet size, either by leasing or adding older aircraft, then SpiceJet will overtake monthly flights in the coming years.

This data was put together using Aviation Week’s Tracked Aircraft Utilization tool.