LCCs on way to take lion’s share of sky
Low-cost airlines are inching towards capturing half of the total commercial airline market in the country.
By Cuckoo Paul, TNN |
MUMBAI: Low-cost airlines are inching towards capturing half of the total commercial airline market in the country. Latest marketshare figures released by DGCA for the January-March 2008 quarter show total share of LCCs has grown to 48%, a shade short of the half-way mark. Five airline brands now operate in the low-cost space versus four full-service operators.
The model seems to have finally found a foothold in a high-cost market like India. Four-and-a-half years after the launch of the first LCC, the carriers, who were told that ���there is no such thing as a low-cost airline in India���, have proved that they are here to stay.
Legacy airline chiefs, who have made similar declarations in other markets like the UK and Malaysia, have had to eat their words because of the successes of airlines like Ryanair and Air Asia. In India, they simply launched or bought over other low-cost or value airlines.
The three strongest legacy airline groupings Jet Airways, Kingfisher and Air India, all operate low-cost brands.
ney-based airline consultancy Centre for Asia-Pacific Aviation (CAPA) was among the earliest to recognise the
potential for LCCs in India. The organisation had predicted that LCCs will grow to capture 70% of the Indian airline market by 2010.
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