India's aviation map is being redrawn, and smaller cities are stealing the show

When Vietnamese cariier Sun PhuQuoc Airways chose Ahmedabad over Delhi or Mumbai for its first scheduled Indian route, it highlighted a shift in how international airlines are approaching the country's market.Foreign carriers are adding connections beyond India's biggest aviation gateways, while Indian airlines are trying to route more international passengers through domestic hubs.

With Indian airports handling 81.13 million international passengers in 2025, according to the Ministry of Civil Aviation, the opportunity is significant. According to Air India, nearly 25 million passengers travel long-haul to and from India annually. Close to 20 million are connecting passengers, and around 17 million transfer through foreign hubs rather than Indian airports.

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For foreign airlines, connecting passengers from more Indian cities to overseas hubs offers a way to reach travellers beyond the country's biggest metros. Air India, meanwhile, is trying to bring more of this traffic through India, setting up a contest over where passengers change planes on their way to international destinations.

Ahmedabad offers a glimpse of that competition. Sun PhuQuoc Airways will launch direct flights between Phu Quoc and Ahmedabad on December 2, with five services a week. But it's not the only Vietnam-based airline to eye the city. Vietnam Airlines will begin four weekly flights between Hanoi and Ahmedabad on November 3, making the Gujarat city its fifth destination in India. The airline's India network will then cover 25 weekly round trips across seven routes.

Ahmedabad takes off, and metros miss the memo

Sun PhuQuoc Airways' decision to enter India through Ahmedabad rather than Delhi or Mumbai makes the route an important addition to the city's international network.The airline plans to increase the service to daily flights from February 2027. Vietnam Airlines' new Hanoi service will add another direct connection, with four round trips a week using Airbus A321 aircraft.

Ahmedabad already has international links through carriers like Vietjet, Thai Airways and Air Arabia. The latest additions bring more options for travel between Gujarat and Southeast Asia, although commercial success of the new services will depend on passenger demand and how well the routes fill up once operations begin.

The developments also highlight that international connectivity is no longer limited to the country's largest airports, and airlines are vying to serve passengers in smaller cities diretly, while also connecting them to destinations across their wider networks.

17 million flyers, one big connecting game

Air India's figures indicate the scale of India's connecting-passenger market. Of the nearly 25 million people who travel long-haul to and from India each year, close to 20 million make connections. Around 85% of these connecting passengers, or approximately 17 million, currently transfer through overseas hubs rather than Indian airports, according to the airline.

The figures underline the size of India’s connecting travel market, making passengers from cities beyond the major metros an increasingly important target for airlines.

A passenger from an Indian city without a direct flight to their final destination usually has to change planes somewhere along the way. Foreign airlines can take that passenger through hubs such as Singapore or Kuala Lumpur before flying them onwards.

Indian airlines are competing for the same traveller by offering connections through airports within India. Instead of changing planes overseas, the passenger could fly through Delhi or another Indian hub before continuing to an international destination.

Boarding pass to India's hinterland

Ahmedabad is not the only Indian city with international links beyond the big centres. Scoot, the low-cost airline of Singapore Airlines, serves cities like Amritsar, Coimbatore, Tiruchirappalli, Thiruvananthapuram and Visakhapatnam, alongside Chennai. Its Singapore hub offers passengers onward connections. Air Arabia's Indian network includes cities like Thiruvananthapuram, in addition to Ahmedabad, Kochi and other larger markets.

Amritsar is another hub gaining popularity with international airlines, with direct flights to Doha, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok and Singapore. Airlines operating these routes include Qatar Airways, Malaysia Airlines, Air Asia and Scoot, alongside Indian carriers.

Airlines serving non-metro markets can draw on different sources of traffic, including leisure travel, business trips and visits to family and friends abroad. The mix varies by city, and the presence of an international route alone does not establish how much demand it generates or whether it is commercially successful.

Air India eyes home advantage

Air India is trying to strengthen the role of Indian airports in international journeys through its Easy Connect programme. The airline launched the initiative from Varanasi on June 25, 2026, before expanding it to Amritsar on July 28 and Ahmedabad on September 1.

The programme allows passengers at participating airports to check in through to their final destinations and complete immigration formalities before connecting through Delhi, without having to recheck their baggage.

The programme is designed to link cities that have fewer direct international services with the airline's wider network. From Ahmedabad, two daily Easy Connect flights to Delhi provide onward connections to 26 international destinations, according to Air India. The airline plans to extend it to more cities, including Goa, Guwahati, Kochi, Patna, Vadodara and Visakhapatnam.

The real battle begins after take-off

More international services from cities outside India's big metros do not necessarily mean that airlines will introduce direct flights from those cities to destinations such as London, New York or Sydney.

The opportunity may instead lie in offering convenient connections through existing hubs.

A traveller from a smaller Indian city heading overseas could connect through a domestic hub such as Delhi or an international gateway such as Singapore or Doha. The choice would depend on the destination, fares, journey time and available connections.

That choice is at the centre of the competition between Indian and foreign airlines. Overseas carriers are extending their reach into more Indian cities to bring passengers into their international networks, while Indian airlines want to route more travellers through domestic hubs.

As international connectivity spreads beyond Delhi and Mumbai, the contest is no longer just about adding routes. It is also about which airline carries passengers on the next leg of their journey, and where they change planes along the way.