Comparative Analysis of Spicejet, Indigo, Go Air and Jetlite

The Indian LCC market has come of an age. About a decade or so back, no person would have thought that the newly formed private airline companies will take on the government held Air India and Indian Airlines and give them stiff competition on the domestic turf. The emergence of low cost carriers such as Spicejet, JetLite, Go Air and Indigo, promising cheap air tickets and adopting a no-frills approach to operations, has shaped an altogether different future of the Indian civil aviation. Here is brief account of their inter-comparisons on parameters of operations such as beginning, reach, market share, punctuality and occupancy levels.

Beginning of Operations

JetLite, previously Sahara Airlines and then Air Sahara, was the first one to be established among these four airlines, in the year 1991, before being taken over by Jet Airways in 2007 and getting rechristened as JetLite. Since March 2012, it has been merged with Jet Konnect.

Next airlines to be set up were the Spicejet and the Go Air in the year 2005. Indigo Airlines began the operation in 2006. So, all these three were set up and began operations at about the same time.

Reach and Market Share

Though Jetlite, or Jet Konnect, began operations far earlier than the other Indian LCCs, it has a market share only at about 7 percent. But, when combined with Jet Airways operations, it has a share of about 29 percent. However, it connects 56 domestic destinations and only 1 international destination with about 430 flights in a single day, which proves that it is essentially focused on providing cheap air tickets to passengers in the Indian market.

Spicejet Airlines is the next major airline in terms of the number of destinations reached, since it reaches 35 domestic and 2 international destinations. It has recently got the approval for 6 more international destinations. However, despite this reach it has the market share of 17 percent, less than that of Indigo Airlines.

Indigo, also called Go Indigo but different from another airline Go Air, is the dominant player in terms of the market share as it holds about 22 percent of domestic share. It flies to 27 domestic and 5 international destinations with 347 daily flights. Interestingly, its growth rate has been the fastest among the LCCs of the world.

Go Air touches 22 domestic destinations with no international operation till the time this article is being written. With less than half the reach of the Jetlite, the airline has almost equal market share to that of Jetlite, at about 7.5 percent.

Punctuality And Occupancy

Airlines need to have good credibility and reliable operations for the customers. The history of punctual and safe operations, besides the offering of cheap air tickets to customers, determines the extent of loyalty that the airline will be able to generate for itself.

The on-time performance of Jetlite and Jet Airways combined shows and average level of 90.7 percent from the 6 major airports of India: Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Delhi, Chennai and Kolkata. Also, there has been an average occupancy level of 74 percent.

The on-time performance of Spicejet has been an average of 87.7 percent and load factor of 73 percent, a little lower than that of Jetlite on both counts.

For Indigo Airlines, the on-time performance is rated at an astonishing 94.7 percent which clearly shows the level of punctuality and efficiency with which it has been operating. However, the occupancy level of 76.5 percent is comparable to that of other LCCs.

The Go Air airline has shown an impressive occupancy level of close to 80 percent, the best among the scheduled domestic LCCs. Its on-time performance has also been one of the best, second only to Indigo, at about 93 percent (but operating from four airports: Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata).

These LCCs have been growing significantly in their reach not only in the Indian market but also in the adjoining countries. Further, the efficiency levels in operations, the customer-orientation and good occupancy levels have fuelled their growth ambitions.