Indian carriers spread their wings in South East Asia
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Indian carriers are expanding networks in South East Asia to grab a larger pie of outbound travellers and transit traffic.
IndiGo is planning new flights to Bali from Mumbai and Delhi adding to its existing service from Bengaluru. Flights from Mumbai will be operated with a technical halt in Chennai. The airline has sought regulatory approvals and slots for the additional flights, it is learnt.
Vistara was the first Indian carrier to start flights to Bali from Delhi in December 2023 and the route has been taken over by Air India post merger.
The introduction of direct flights has contributed to tourist footfalls with India ranking among top three source markets for Bali.
Online travel portal Yatra.com has seen 30-35 per cent rise in inquiries for travel to South East Asia compared to last summer. “Destinations such as Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia (Bali) are seeing significant interest supported by improved airline connectivity. While demand has spiked, airfares have remained relatively stable influenced by capacity, fuel prices and competition,” said Bharatt Malik, senior vice president (flights and hotels business), Yatra.com.
“Forward bookings to Phuket have been extremely encouraging reflecting both strong appetite for Thailand and growing preference for Akasa Air’s seamless and reliable travel experience,” said the airline’s chief commercial officer Praveen Iyer.
Akasa Air’s flights to Phuket will start on September 20 from Mumbai followed by Bengaluru on October 1. The airline is also evaluating other destinations in South East Asia region such as Vietnam.
Air India will be introducing service between Delhi and Manila next month. This flight will offer non-stop connectivity to Philippines and provide one stop travel options for European passengers.
Data from aviation analytics firm Cirium shows carriers are scheduled to operate 270 flights daily (two way) between India and South East Asia in September which is 12 per cent higher than last year. IndiGo, Thai Lion Air and Vietnam Airlines have seen the highest capacity addition among all the airlines during this period.
Vietnam Airlines is also deploying wide body Boeing 787 and Airbus A350 aircraft on the Ho Chi Minh City-Mumbai route from October 29 to cater to the high travel demand.
“This upgrade reflects our dedication to offering Indian travellers unparalleled comfort and convenience,” said Nguyen Trung Hieu, Vietnam Airlines’s country manager for India.
“Earlier the Indian diaspora was seen as the key demand driver by airlines while launching new routes and now outbound travellers are playing a significant part too. A case in point is destinations like Central Asia, Indonesia and Vietnam,” an aviation source pointed out.
However it’s not just point-to-point traffic that is driving up connectivity.
Earlier this month, Delhi airport said it has registered a 500 per cent increase in international connecting traffic between Thailand and Central Asia. IndiGo launched flights from Delhi to Almaty, Baku, Tbilisi and Tashkent in 2023 contributing to this growth.
Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad airports are also gaining transit traffic as IndiGo develops its network. IndiGo’s Jakarta-Mumbai flight sees a lot of passengers travelling onward to Jeddah. Hyderabad is also seeing passenger flows from Dhaka and Thailand to West Asia.
Akasa Air too is tapping the opportunity to carry more international travellers. “We are attracting connecting passengers on our international routes and see strong potential in building this further. Mumbai and Bengaluru, with their geographic advantage and growing global connectivity, provide us with a strategic platform to develop seamless transfer options, particularly for traffic flows between Gulf and South-East Asia,” Iyer said.
Published on September 14, 2025
