Jet, IndiGo, Vistara and more: Domestic airlines gear up for winter schedule with more flights

New Delhi: Domestic flyers will have more choices this winter as airlines are planning to operate 13,951 weekly flights starting October, an almost 14 percent increase from the flights operated during winter schedule 2014-15. This is over 11 percent increase from the summer schedule currently being followed. [caption id=“attachment_2305128” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. Reuters[/caption] A DGCA official said typically, flight increase is 3-4 percent between two schedules but the increase this time is in double digits because of new airlines starting operations in summer which will get fully reflected in the winter schedule. Besides, SpiceJet, which had to drastically cut down operations last winter is expected to add anywhere up to five aircraft in the winter. Jet Airways is also expected to increase fleet for domestic operations apart from market leader IndiGo. Vistara started operations in January this year and its operations will get fully reflected in the upcoming winter schedule besides Air Asia and Air Pegasus. Globally, airlines follow a winter and summer schedule. The winter schedule runs from the last Sunday in October to the last Sunday in March of the following year. The summer schedule is followed for the rest of the year. The latest data available with the Directorate General of Civil Aviation shows that IndiGo plans to operate 4,359 weekly flights up from 3,733 weekly departures in winter 2014-15 and 4,291 departures in the summer schedule currently on. Jet Airways plans to operate 3,307 weekly flights, up from 2,498 operated during the previous winter and 2,836 in the summer schedule now. GoAir and SpiceJet are the two airlines that plan to operate fewer flights this winter as compared to the previous year though more than in the summer schedule. The DGCA data show that while SpiceJet plans to operate 1,855 flights a week this winter as compared to 2,277 weekly departures last winter. It has increased flights during the summer schedule to 1,520 but obviously, even after the increase, it has not reverted to the fleet size or number of flights it had last winter. GoAir will see a marginal decline as it plans to operate 950 weekly flights down from 957 weekly flights last winter though it will increase flights compared to the summer schedule of 918. Air India plans to operate 1,705 weekly flights (1,676 weekly flights previously) and 1,718 in the summer schedule. Its subsidiary Alliance Air plans 270 weekly flights (210 weekly flights previously) and 195 in the summer schedule. The exact number of flights which the airlines will operate in the forthcoming winter schedule will become clearer in the coming weeks as the DGCA has called a meeting next week to see the preparedness of domestic airlines to operate the flights that they propose. During the meeting the DGCA will look at whether the aircraft are equipped to fly in low visibility conditions that prevail in winter and also whether the crew is trained to operate under low visibility conditions. The issue of whether the alternate airports are equipped to allow planes to land safely in low visibility conditions will also be looked at before the DGCA gives the final nod for airlines to operate the flights that they propose in the winter schedule. Every airline has to mention which is the alternate airport they will land in in case the original airfield where they are to land is suddenly affected by bad weather in winter and visibility drops so low that landing and take off is not possible. Kadapa and Durgapur are the two new airports added to operational airports to which airlines plan to have regular flights during the winter schedule 2015-16.