Look East for domestic carriers to hedge Gulf losses

As West Asia airspace remains restricted, Indian airlines have rescheduled their network to Southeast Asia, Japan, and Sri Lanka for the summer schedule to hedge against losses from capacity curtailment.        

The domestic carriers are staring at huge losses in FY26 due to high aviation fuel prices, restricted West Asia schedules, and rupee depreciation. Reports have said that Air India is expected to post $2.4 billion losses in FY26 and has sought fresh funds from Tata and Singapore Airlines.      

Akasa Air announced on Wednesday the strategic expansion into Southeast Asia, adding Hanoi, Vietnam, as the seventh international destination to its network. Starting 4th September 2026, the airline will operate four weekly direct flights connecting Mumbai and Hanoi.

Air India will operate non-stop flights between Delhi and Hanoi beginning 1 May 2026, making Hanoi the airline’s second gateway in Vietnam after Ho Chi Minh City. The airline also announced non-stop flights between Mumbai and Tokyo (Haneda) from 15 June 2026, in addition to its Delhi-Tokyo (Haneda) services.

The new services to Hanoi will operate five times a week, complementing daily flights to Ho Chi Minh City. The opening of this new route adds 7,028 seats to and from Vietnam each month.

IndiGo will further strengthen flights to Indian Ocean countries with enhanced connectivity to Sri Lanka and Réunion Island, a French overseas territory. The airline announced the launch of new, direct flights between Delhi and Colombo. The airline operates 6 flights per week on this route with its A320 aircraft.

IndiGo now operates over 55 weekly flights to Colombo from five cities in India, namely Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, and now Delhi. IndiGo also connects Chennai and Tiruchirappalli to Jaffna with 10 weekly flights.

IndiGo will fly thrice weekly, direct flights between Chennai and Réunion Island, effective 29 April 2026. The airline will operate its Airbus A320 aircraft on the route.

The summer schedule of domestic carriers has seen a curtailment due to airspace closure over the Middle East. Over 80% of Akasa and Air India Express capacity was deployed in the Gulf, and IndiGo also had a sizeable network in the Middle East.