No Relief For Domestic Fliers Despite Four New Airlines Joining The Skies

There seems to be no breather in the domestic aviation scene in the foreseeable future. Though the government proudly announced the entry of Shankh Air, Al Hind Air, FLY91 and Jettwings Airways, they are hardly going to ease air travel. All the new airlines plan to operate only on feeder routes and to Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities. Following disruptions in flights through scheduled cancellations and delayed flights by IndiGo on December 5, 2026, DGCA had ordered a 10% cut in IndiGo’s overall flights — from 2144 flights per day to 1930 flights. As a result, Indigo had to vacate 717 slots out of which 364 were from major metro cities. But to everyone’s surprise there are no takers from existing or new airlines for the vacated slots. About the only airline capable of making a move is Akasa Air, which is awaiting induction of new aircraft in its fleet. Shankh Air, believed to be operated by a former truck operator and based out of Lucknow plans to fly on Tier- 2 and three routes — Varanasi and Gorakhpur. Goa-based FLY91, which planned to operate Airbus aircraft, today operates three ATR 72 -600. The flights are to Lakshadweep from Kochi, and to Sindhudurg, Jalgaon, Bengaluru and Hyderabad from Goa. FLY91’s first year operations landed it with a loss of Rs 67 crore. Following this, it offered one of its ATR 72-600 aircraft on lease to an upcoming airline, Gulf-based Al Hind Air. For some reason the deal did not take place. And also, passengers on FLY91 have complained of frequent cancellations and disruptions in operations. About the only fresh lease of life for airline operators in India, dubbed the graveyard, is the new aircraft leasing policy.  With the setting up of GIFT City, airlines are shifting leasing units from Singapore and Ireland to Gujarat to take advantage of the new leasing terms and tax exemptions.