Jet Airways Pips Dubai's Emirates as India's Top Carrier on International Routes

Leading Indian carrier Jet Airways has surpassed Dubai-based Emirates to emerge as the top airline in the country in the international segment.

While Emirates failure to expand its international flights from India due to inadequate flying rights is one the reasons behind Jet Airways' better performance, the latter's tie-up with another UAE-based carrier -- Etihad Airways -- also helped it in generating more international business.

The airline promoted by Naresh Goyal saw 6,350,401 international passengers travelling on its flights during the 2014-15 financial year, becoming the largest carrier in terms of international traffic from India, according to aviation consulting firm Capa India.

On the other hand, Emirates slipped to third position carrying a total of 5,085,213 passengers during the period. State-owned airline Air India stood at the second spot with 6,231,271 passengers in the segment.

Qatar Airways and Etihad Airways occupied fourth and fifth places respectively with the numbers of international passengers of 2,030,918 and 1,694,455.

During the last fiscal year, Emirates was unable to increase the number of international flights it operates from India as the authorities did not give it permit for additional flights.

"I don't expect any further bilateral rights to Emirates or any other Middle East carrier, at least, in the near term, till a structured bilateral policy is formulated by the government, and this means Emirates will remain at No. 3," Kapil Kaul, chief executive officer (South Asia), Capa India, told Mint.

In contrast, Jet Airways partnership with Etihad helped the airline improve its global footprint.

"Jet Airways' aggressive international expansion, largely driven by the Abu Dhabi hub over last 12-18 months, has logically pushed it to No. 1 airline status as the...airline accounted for close to 75% of the incremental international traffic carried by Indian airlines in financial year 2015," said Kaul.

Both Emirates and Jet Airways did not comment on their positions in the report.

But a Jet Airways spokesperson said the company runs 128 international flights from India per day besides Eithad's 45 flights daily.

Capa estimates the domestic aviation industry will see a growth of 8-10% in the international segment and nearly 15% growth in domestic aviation market.

Stock prices of Jet Airways rose sharply by about 7.5% on Tuesday, closing at Rs 332 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), following the report about its improved market position.