Skyscanner, global travel search engine, identifies the most searched yet ‘unserved’ routes from Delhi and Mumbai. ‘Unserved’ routes are marked out as routes in demand yet have no direct flight serving the destination. Analyzing search data from a user base of 50 million, Skyscanner gives an insight into the gap between the traveler requirement and direct air connections, thus establishing potential new routes for airlines to consider.
Skyscanner recorded the highest demand for travel between Mumbai and the Indonesian holiday island, Bali, with over 1.50 Lakh enquiries. With nearly 1.20 lakh searches from Delhi to Auckland, another unserved route comes to the fore. This trend is in line with Skyscanner’s recent review of popular destinations for December getaways among Delhiites, where Auckland emerged on top with YoY increase of 120%.
The U.S. west coast features heavily in the top ten with Mumbai to San Francisco generating 98,000 searches and Los Angeles placing joint third with 98,000 searches emerging from Delhi and 85,000 from Mumbai, yet this route remains unserved. Even though many destinations in Europe are well connected with India, over 50,000 searches rose from Delhi to both Athens and Barcelona, neither city are directly connected to Delhi.
India sports a high demand for one stop flights however, OAG traffic analyzer’s report stated that nine of the top 50 underserved international routes globally either start or end in India. The city pairs spotted by Skyscanner affirm that travel requirement exists but not nearly enough travel solutions.
Commenting on the findings, Reshmi Roy, Growth Manager, Skyscanner India said: “There are many reasons why a particular route cannot be served – distance, availability of aircraft, demand in the market etc. Nonetheless, the volume of queries from India proves that new routes can be considered. Our data analysis revealed the west coast of The U.S. is the most neglected region for direct flights. The rarity of these direct flights often results in passengers paying a premium for their journeys. Skyscanner always advises travellers to compare the various combinations available to get the best price and time combination.”
