Meeting the challenges of India's growing air travel demand: How can airlines hold a competitive edge?
The aviation sector in Asia is experiencing impressive growth, fueled by a rapid increase in air travel demand. According to Airbus’ 20-year outlook, India is on track to become the third-largest civil aviation market, with passenger numbers climbing substantially. By 2027, the aviation market in India is expected to reach a value of $40 billion, supported by aspirational spending patterns among consumers. This has attracted attention from various operators, intensifying competition, particularly for European and North-American airlines.
It is becoming harder to compete against local operators that hold advantages when it comes to cost levels, local expertise and market visibility, and local operational resources. The “fierce competition” strategy is resulting in limited opportunities for European and North American carriers - mainly due to fly bans over Russian airspace, which have been forcing airlines to adopt longer, and less efficient routes. Foreign airlines are being pushed out of the battleground, resulting in European airlines facing difficulties in maintaining key routes to Asia-Pacific, and having to cut down on operations. So how can foreign airlines keep their market share with actions that favorably affect both cost structure and value proposition to buyers?
Reversing traffic and optimizing operations
Outsourcing can be seen as a good solution to navigate challenging markets and avoid losing market share – however, when outsourcing in challenging markets, it is not enough to acquire staff familiar with local laws and languages. In regions such as India, where passengers truly see the value for money and expect the highest level of customer service, true local expertise requires having professionals who not only grasp the multicultural environment but also bring experience from global airlines, allowing them to deliver service with a genuine understanding of both the airline's standards and the cultural expectations in that country. In this scenario, it is key to not just reshape strategies and operational efficiencies, but also to embrace business practices that reframe the paradigms of crew management.
Total Crew Management™: Creating new opportunities instead of fighting over existing ones
Cost-saving measures, such as optimizing Europe-Asia route operations, are essential, but they must be paired with an unwavering focus on quality and an ability to ensure that the crew embody the operators’ values and represent the brand with integrity. This is what builds recurring income streams. Achieving this requires dedicated HR practices, on-site support, and a culture of excellence fostered from recruitment to ongoing career development - and that’s what AAP Aviation’s Total Crew Management™ delivers.
At the heart of the model lies the idea of outsourcing as a strategic enabler for airlines looking to expand into new markets, optimize costs, and enhance operational flexibility. The innovative differential here is that our solution focuses on traffic-turnaround to foreign local bases, allowing airlines not only to access our diverse talent pool around the globe, but also providing them with a scalable and agile workforce that can adapt to fluctuating market demands and regulatory requirements. Seamless collaboration with clients, including training at their premises with their instructors, ensures alignment with brand standards while maintaining competitive local conditions that attract and retain top-tier talent.
By eliminating many of the most expensive elements of operations and freeing up internal resources to focus on core business activities, airlines get the opportunity to land on the best of both worlds – differentiation and lower cost while maintaining the high quality crew operations. The solution provides airlines a new way to engage, employ, and empower their crew members, while unlocking new opportunities for growth, efficiency, and competitiveness in the dynamic aviation landscape.
Daring to embrace new business models, that create elements that the industry has never offered, will be instrumental in driving sustainable growth and long-term success. Total Crew Outsourcing might sound like an old practice, but not in aviation. Not in this context, with traffic being reversed in order to keep your airline’s market share, in a way that encourages a reevaluation of traditional operational models and a shift towards more sustainable and effective practices. We must move past the mindset that industry structural conditions are fixed and unchangeable. The market boundaries of our industry can – and should – be reconstructed, but this will require bolder actions from our players. In practice it really is about looking at what is right in front of us. Total Crew Management™ is one such enabler.