The Central Government has taken an important step towards increasing competition in India’s aviation sector and providing more choices to passengers. The government has given operational approval to two new aviation companies, AI Hindi Air and FlyExpress, which are preparing to take off. On behalf of the Civil Aviation Ministry, these two companies No Objection Certificate (NOC) Has been issued.

Efforts to reduce burden in aviation sector

This decision has been taken at a time when competition in the domestic aviation market was limited due to the IndiGo crisis and increasing operational pressure on some other airlines. The number of air passengers has increased rapidly in the last few years, but high costs, huge debt and operational challenges remained major obstacles to the entry of new players. In such a situation, this step of the government is being seen as an attempt to reduce the excessive dominance of existing companies on the domestic aviation sector and bring balance in the market.

Apart from this, Shankh Air of Uttar Pradesh has already received NOC and it is expected that it will start its commercial flights from 2026. Currently, only nine airlines are active in India’s domestic aviation sector, while this number further declined after Fly Big discontinued its services in October. At present the Indian aviation market is dominated by IndiGo and Air India groups.

Competition will increase in the sky

IndiGo alone controls about 65 percent of the domestic market, while together with Air India and Air India Express, this control reaches about 90 percent. The entry of new players will not only increase competition but is also expected to balance ticket prices, improve service quality and bring better options for passengers. Overall, the entry of new companies like AI Hindi Air, FlyExpress and Shankh Air is likely to intensify competition in the Indian skies in the coming years and give a new impetus to the aviation industry.

Indigo Share: The impact of Indigo crisis is now being seen on its shares also. Shares of IndiGo’s parent company InterGlobe Aviation have fallen by more than 7 percent in the last four trading sessions. IndiGo, which is facing operational crisis, has canceled more than 1700 flights in four days.

What is the condition of the shares?

The situation is that on Friday, Indigo shares closed 1.22 percent down at Rs 5,371.30 on BSE, whereas in intraday it slipped 3.15 percent to Rs 5,266. On NSE also it fell 1.27 percent and closed at Rs 5,367.50.

Since December 1, the market capitalization of the company has declined from Rs 16,190.64 crore to Rs 2,07,649.14 crore. Of course, IndiGo’s stock has risen by 16.79 percent in the last one year, but in the last one month the stock has also declined by 5.72 percent and amid the flight cancellation crisis, it is trading down by 8.76 percent.

More than 350 flights canceled even today

Indigo has about two-thirds domestic traffic. In such a situation, the air travel system has completely collapsed due to its network being disrupted for the fourth consecutive day. Till now the situation does not seem to be normal and more than 350 flights have been canceled in many airports of the country even today. In such a situation, a large crowd of people has gathered, people are upset and angry.

What is the reason for the problem?

This crisis is due to the new pilot flying-time regulation. Under this, two days of week off in a week was made mandatory for pilots. This means that their weekly rest period has now been increased from 36 hours to 48 hours. Apart from this, night duty will be from 12 AM–6 AM and the flying time in night shift was fixed at 8 hours and overall duty time was fixed at 10 hours.

The purpose of this new rule is to provide more comfort to the pilots and increase the safety of air travel. DGCA had made this change in the rules related to the work of crew members and pilots from November 1. Here, Indigo has cited ‘misunderstanding’ and ‘lack of planning’ as the reason for the large-scale cancellation. CEO Peter Albers said on Friday that operations are expected to return to normal between December 10 and 15.

Indigo results in September quarter

India’s largest airline operator IndiGo suffered huge losses in the July-September quarter of the financial year 2025-26. During this period, its net loss increased by 161 percent to Rs 2,582 crore, whereas it was Rs 987 crore in the same quarter last year. However, the revenue from core operations of the airline increased by 9.3 percent in the second quarter and reached Rs 18,555 crore. Whereas in the same quarter a year ago it was Rs 16,969 crore.

Foreign exchange costs had the biggest impact on the airline’s results in the second quarter, increasing more than ten times to Rs 2,892 crore in the July-September quarter. Whereas in the same quarter a year ago it was Rs 240 crore. Due to this, revenue increased due to increase in total expenses in the quarter, but net loss also increased.

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