In a major development, which could potentially shake up India’s aviation environment, it has been reported that Air India will shrink their domestic network of operations by 5%, primarily to re-vamp and optimize existing networks. The move is part of the carrier’s wider plans to concentrate on profitability, effectiveness and the expansion of its global market.
Though the airline’s official line is that the network revamp is designed to improve performance, the move has left passengers and competitors jittery, leading to some big questions: Which routes are affected, who gains, and what’s in store for India’s skies next?
What Is The Reason Behind The Cutoff Of Air India’s Domestic Operations?
“Air India is reducing the frequency of domestic flights and the development is connected to the carrier’s fleet and route optimization practice,” an Air India official told PTI. The reduction is based on analysis of route profitability and load factors in the post-pandemic market.
Here are a few of the explanations as to why the cut happened:
Low Passenger Demand-operation of some short-haul train services.
Aircraft Allotment for high revenue earning international routes.
Operational Costs Control to enhance financial sustainability.
Competition Pressure by other low-cost domestic carriers, which have reduced fares on regional routes.
Air India wants to cut less lucrative domestic routes to focus instead on foreign long-haul routes that offer better returns.
#ImportantUpdate
— Air India (@airindia) June 22, 2025
Following previous announcements of temporary reductions in Air India’s widebody international services, the airline today announced temporary cuts of less than 5% to its overall narrowbody network.
This voluntary decision leads to the temporary suspension of…
Key Domestic Routes Affected
Though Air India is yet to come out with a comprehensive, city-wise route map, industry sources have pointed out that the following sectors are likely to experience cut in frequencies or withdrawal of flights.
Tier-II and Tier-III City Routes: Flight operations/routes between metro cities like Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru to smaller airports like Bhopal, Raipur, or Bhubaneswar could be pruned as demand is relatively less and there is stiff competition from low-cost airlines (LCCs).
Short Haul: City pairs with short distance (less than 1.5 hours) will see schedule reductions, such as flights between Pune, Indore, Jaipur etc dominated by IndiGo, SpiceJet and Akasa Air.
Red-Eye and Late-Night Flights: Some late-night and pre-dawn flights that have operated with few passengers could also be on the way out.
Minor frequency changes at a handful of other city-pairs could also occur due to time of day demand and fleet utilization fluctuations on certain metro-to-metro flights.
Who Stand to Benefit from the Decision of Air India?
Low-Cost Carriers (LCCs):
Airlines such as IndiGo, SpiceJet, Akasa Air and Vistara (which is set to merge with Air India) are expected to gain the most. With Air India freeing up some capacity on certain routes, it’s anticipated that LCCs will be more than eager to fill the voids – aggressive with both upping the number of frequencies and even launching new services to the routes in question – now that Air India flights are more or less off-limits to local passengers.
Regional Airlines:
Carriers like Alliance Air and FlyBig, which serve smaller cities, are likely to use the opportunity to corner market share on smaller routes where Air India scales down presence.
Metro’s Commuters:
Metro-to-international Through Air India will largely cater to passengers flying out of cities such as Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Bengaluru to various global destinations who may expect better services (both ground and onboard), newer planes and flight options.
International Expansion:
This domestic downscaling releases the wide-body aircraft and crew resources for Air India’s ambitious expansion in North America, Europe and Southeast Asia — which could perhaps increase India’s global connectivity.
Passenger Impact: What Flyers Can Expect Types of travel Travelers have been forced to change their plans because of the suspension, and book new airline tickets for the affected period, or simply decide not to fly at all.
Less Options: Air India pulls out of services, passengers will have less options in terms of flights and timings on some domestic routes.
Potential Fare Changes: Decreased competition on certain routes could result in higher fares in low-competition markets.
Rebooking through Star Alliance: Air India would also re-accommodate passengers on its Star Alliance partners or codeshare flights to limit the inconvenience.
Similar International Connectivity: You might find better value travelling internationally for frequent fliers with global destinations being US, UK, Australia and rest of Middle East.
What’s Next for Air India?
Air India is getting a complete makeover under the Tata Group from where it wants to get back its old world class avatar. The domestic network snipping, it appears, is probably part of a broader strategy that consists of:
FILE MODERNIZING: Among other things, leading the charge of new Airbus A350s and Boeing 777s on international flights.
Route Rationalisation : Abandon domestic sectors that don’t work and focus on making profits on international routes.
Improving the Customer Experience: Upgrading on-board amenities, lounges and digital booking channels.
Though trimming domestic capacity, Air India will continue to be a big player on the high-demand metro routes and could consider relooking at some domestic routes once the bottom line turns around.
Industry Experts Weigh In
Some aviation analysts see the move as a needed change of course. As per aviation analyst Rajiv Kapoor,
“Air India cuts domestic services Air India’s reduction in domestic services is a sign of concentrated effort on profitable growth and not mindless chase of market share. The Indian market is already flooded with low-cost carriers, and Air India’s advantage will be connecting India to the world.”
Others warn that abandoning domestic routes could erode Air India’s feed traffic set up for international long haul flights, unless domestic partnerships come into their own.
Conclusion
The 5% decrease in Air India’s domestic network is seen as a key departure from its strategy post-privatisation. The airline looks like it’s rolling the dice on international growth and rationalizing its U.S. footprint to plug the bleeding in the bank accounts.
If it means a little short-term inconvenience for some domestic travelers so be it; the long term it could well give Indian passengers an honest-to goodness global carrier — one that the Tata Group wants to build.
In the meantime, low-cost and regional airlines are preparing to step in — meaning that India’s domestic skies are as competitive, and as volatile, as ever.
