Air India Feels the Pain in its Middle East Sectors

Air India has been going heavy up with its LCC brand Air India Express to the Middle East destinations. But its been facing declining passenger load factors in this sector. Per this article 'The passenger load factor of the flag carrier's low-cost subsidiary for West Asia has fallen a steep 11 percentage points over the last six months as a result of competition from new low-cost entrants and fare wars by incumbents.' This is partly due to increased number of planes, but largely driven by increased competition. This pressure is only going to increase with Deccan (or whatever Kingfisher Airline decides to call) all set to fly overseas in August, and the big dog Emirates Airlines throwing its hat in the LCC ring.