Air India Express Reluctantly Pulls Amritsar-bangkok Flight: A Disheartening Case Study In The Struggles Of Maintaining Non-hub International Routes

Sunday, July 27, 2025

Air India Express (IX) has announced nan suspension of its non-stop formation betwixt Amritsar (ATQ) and Bangkok Suvarnabhumi (BKK), effective August 2025. This determination follows a continued struggle pinch debased rider request and a rider load facet (PLF) that grounded to meet expectations. Between January and May 2025, nan way carried only 16,993 passengers, resulting successful a disappointing PLF of 67.27%. This marks a important setback for Southeast Asia connectivity from Amritsar, a metropolis known for its belief and taste significance, and highlights challenges airlines look successful maintaining sustainable world routes.

As nan request for flights connected this way has remained weak, Air India Express has decided to adjacent bookings beyond July 30, 2025. This follows akin moves by different airlines specified arsenic Batik Air Malaysia, which is besides exiting nan Kuala Lumpur (KUL) to Amritsar (ATQ) sector. Both airlines’ departures awesome a increasing interest regarding nan semipermanent viability of nonstop Southeast Asia services from Amritsar, peculiarly successful ray of fluctuating rider flows and structural marketplace challenges.

Key Details of nan Suspension:

• Route Affected: Amritsar (ATQ) to Bangkok Suvarnabhumi (BKK)
• Suspension Date: Effective August 2025, pinch formation bookings closed aft July 30, 2025
• Passenger Load Factor: 67.27% betwixt January and May 2025
• Total Passengers: 16,993 passengers transported during nan period
• Route Challenges: Low demand, deficiency of premium business traffic, and anemic onward connectivity

The suspension of nan Amritsar to Bangkok way underscores nan difficulties of operating world flights connected non-hub routes, wherever reliance connected point-to-point postulation often leads to instability and mediocre profitability. As a result, airlines must reconsider their strategies to support profitable world services from cities for illustration Amritsar.

Challenges Faced by Air India Express connected nan Amritsar-Bangkok Route

Despite nan competitory fares offered by Air India Express, nan Amritsar-Bangkok way continued to underperform, starring to nan eventual suspension. The route’s nonaccomplishment to execute accordant rider numbers is attributed to respective cardinal factors, including value sensitivity, debased premium and business people demand, and minimal onward connectivity options for passengers walking beyond Bangkok.

Low Yield and Inconsistent Demand

The mean return fare connected nan Amritsar-Bangkok way ranged from US$170 to US$220, indicating debased yields for nan airline. These debased fares, while charismatic to leisure travelers, grounded to make capable gross to screen nan operational costs of nan route, particularly pinch debased load factors.

The way besides lacked a beardown guidelines of business travelers, who typically make higher gross for airlines, further compounding nan airline’s financial challenges. Additionally, nan absence of connecting flights to different Southeast Asian destinations made nan work reliant solely connected point-to-point demand, which proved insufficient to prolong profitability.

Seasonal Fluctuations and Dependence connected Leisure Travel

The capacity of nan Amritsar-Bangkok way was heavy influenced by seasonal fluctuations. The highest periods, typically driven by leisure travelers, group bookings, and seasonal tours, saw little spikes successful demand. However, during nan off-season, request dropped significantly, starring to unstable postulation patterns. The deficiency of a consistent, year-round request for flights has made it difficult for Air India Express to support nan way economically viable.

This business was further exacerbated by anemic onward connectivity from Bangkok, which hindered nan expertise of nan hose to seizure further postulation from passengers walking to different parts of Southeast Asia aliases connecting destinations.

Air India Express Shifts Focus to More Viable Routes

In consequence to nan ongoing challenges, Air India Express will proceed to run routes from Pune (PNQ), Surat (STV), and Lucknow (LKO) to Bangkok, cities that show much accordant and unchangeable demand. These routes, which characteristic stronger diaspora links, business traffic, and amended year-round demand, person been deemed much commercially viable. By focusing connected these markets, Air India Express intends to fortify its position successful nan Southeast Asia marketplace and trim its reliance connected underperforming routes.

Additionally, Air India Express has restructured its web to cater much efficaciously to profitable world sectors, leveraging amended request balance, stronger postulation flows, and improved output management. These changes are expected to supply nan hose pinch a much sustainable way network, while improving wide profitability.

Competitive Landscape and Regional Airline Challenges

Air India Express is not nan only bearer to look difficulties connected nan Amritsar-Southeast Asia route. Thai Lion Air, which operates 4 play services betwixt Amritsar and Bangkok Don Mueang (DMK), has besides knowledgeable lackluster performance. From November 2024 to May 2025, Thai Lion Air carried 26,775 passengers, achieving a PLF of only 63.09%, contempt a impermanent boost successful postulation during nan highest recreation months of March and April. This mirrors nan struggles of Air India Express, pinch some airlines seeing akin challenges successful maintaining accordant demand.

The reliance connected tourer traffic, particularly during highest periods, without a coagulated guidelines of repetition business customers aliases premium-class demand, has made nan Amritsar-Southeast Asia routes financially unfeasible for these carriers. The absence of beardown connecting networks astatine either extremity of nan routes, compounded by a deficiency of hub connectivity, has further amplified nan challenges of sustaining long-haul services from smaller, non-hub cities for illustration Amritsar.

Southeast Asia Connectivity: A Continued Challenge for Amritsar

The suspension of Air India Express flights from Amritsar to Bangkok highlights a broader inclination successful nan region: contempt nan increasing request for world travel, smaller cities extracurricular of India’s awesome hubs struggle to support profitable world routes. Southeast Asia remains a celebrated destination for Indian travelers, particularly for tourism, business, and taste exchanges. However, arsenic seen pinch Amritsar’s declining formation numbers, nan viability of specified routes is hindered by respective marketplace realities, including:

• Point-to-Point Traffic Dependency: Airlines operating nonstop flights without onward connectivity look greater trouble successful sustaining profitable routes.
• Price Sensitivity: With debased mean summons prices, it is harder for airlines to make capable gross to screen operational costs.
• Seasonality: The fluctuating request tied to highest recreation seasons, without accordant year-round traffic, makes it difficult for airlines to trust connected specified routes for profitability.

These challenges item nan request for strategical adjustments by some carriers and airports to guarantee sustained connectivity betwixt smaller cities and Southeast Asia. A imaginable solution lies successful processing stronger location alliances, improving hub connectivity, and creating tailored trading efforts that target nan correct customer segments.

The Future of Amritsar’s International Connectivity

As nan suspension of Air India Express’s Amritsar-Bangkok formation makes clear, airlines must cautiously measure nan request dynamics and semipermanent sustainability of routes earlier launching aliases maintaining world services. While Amritsar holds taste and belief significance, which draws galore tourists, nan city’s domiciled arsenic an world hub is still evolving.

To win successful nan future, Amritsar’s world routes will request to reside nan challenges of debased yield, seasonal fluctuations, and constricted onward connectivity. Airport authorities and airlines whitethorn request to collaborate connected creating much sustainable recreation patterns, focusing connected stronger request segments, including business travel, and leveraging amended connectivity options astatine some departure and destination points.

Conclusion: Strategic Shifts for Long-Term Success

The suspension of nan Amritsar to Bangkok formation by Air India Express and nan withdrawal of different location carriers from Southeast Asia routes reflects broader manufacture challenges. As nan marketplace for world recreation continues to evolve, particularly from smaller cities for illustration Amritsar, airlines must instrumentality much nuanced strategies to guarantee nan profitability of their services.

By focusing connected much commercially viable routes and adjusting their offerings to align pinch sustainable request patterns, airlines tin amended their semipermanent occurrence successful this competitory sector. For Amritsar, nan roadworthy up will require amended connectivity options, strategical partnerships, and a much diversified attack to marketplace improvement if it is to unafraid its spot successful Southeast Asia’s bustling recreation market.