Air India second most cheapest airline in World, says report; Indigo, Jet Airways also in list

Two Indian airlines are among top five cheapest airline in the world, as per a Global Flight Pricing Report prepared by Melbourne-based Rome2rio. These two airlines are state-owned Air India Express and low-cost carrier Interglobe Aviation (Indigo). Rome2rio prepares the study each quarter by making airline price comparison on economy-class airfares. Rome2rio’s analysed economy-class airfares displayed by Rome2rio over a two month period, totalling some 1.5 million price points, to provide a snapshot of global pricing (in US$ per km) across international and domestic carriers.

Air India Express stood at second spot with average price of $0.08 per kilometre on international flights. This India’s national carrier was right after Malaysian airline AirAsia who bags the top spot with $0.07 per kilometre on international flights.

Indigo airlines was at fifth spot with average price of $0.10 per kilometre. The similar average price was of Jet Airways who stood at 12th place in cheapest airlines.

Air India Express’ parent Air India was also not far away, as this airlines average price was at $0.11 per kilometre.

However, private domestic carrier SpiceJet was on 36th spot with average price of $0.12 per kilometer in cheapest airlines.

Rome2rio in the report said, “The results are fascinating. Of course, airfares follow certain trends; longer flights cost more, and some airlines are more expensive per km flown than others. However, there’s always more to the story than this. There are many factors which can influence per km costs, including the type of aircraft flown, routes flown, local salary and fuel costs, ancillary revenue and airport landing fees.”

Since our 2016 report, we have seen minor shifts in pricing and ranking. In general, the low end of both the international and domestic rankings have shifted up in cost per km. With reports of flight prices headed upwards, largely due to increased fuel costs, this may unfortunately be a trend that continues, added the report.

Main standout is that Scoot is no longer one of the cheapest carriers, dropping dramatically in our international rankings (from #1 in 2016 to #31 in 2018), with the average price per km jumping from US$0.07 to US$0.12. This may be due to the Tiger/Scoot merge in 2017 and the separation off of the Tiger brand in Australia, which now exists under different ownership.

However, travellers to and around Asia still have plenty of cheap options to choose from, with AirAsiaX, Air India Express and Indonesia AirAsia coming in at #1, #2 and #3 to take you the furthest for your dollar.

Other international standouts include Primera Air (#4 in the international rankings), a relatively new player in the low-cost, long-haul revolution. Mainly flying between Scandinavia and European holiday destinations, the airline has started branching out into low-cost flights from Europe to North America. WOW, another competitor on this low-cost Atlantic route, also ranks high (#7 overall) – but the third kid on this block, Norwegian Air, who had a booming 2017 with headline-grabbing fares, is way down the list at almost twice the cost/km as Primera.