 India’s Regional Airline Puzzle

Meet Fly91 and ATR

ATR’s Global Recovery

Backlog and Supply Chain Crunch

India Growth Forecast

Fly91 Passenger Mix Surprise

Trains vs Planes Debate

Network Expansion and Costs

Scaling Up and What’s Next

For decades, regional aviation in India has been a story of false starts, grounded ambitions and struggling airlines. But that may finally be changing.

India makes more than 4 billion intercity trips every year. Yet only 3% happen by air. That gap may be the single biggest untapped opportunity in Indian aviation — and airlines like Fly91 and aircraft maker ATR believe they are perfectly positioned to capture it.

In this episode of The Morning Brief, Anirban Chowdhury and ET's Forum Gandhi speak with Alexis Vidal, Chief Commercial Officer of ATR, and Manoj Chacko, Managing Director of Fly91, about why regional aviation has historically failed to scale, what has changed in India's smaller cities, and whether the economics finally work. From eliminating check-in entirely and operating with fuel costs at just 22% of revenue, to filling flights with business travellers in places few expected, the conversation explores the opportunities, bottlenecks and big bets shaping India's next aviation frontier.

You can follow Anirban Chowdhury on his social media: X and Linkedin

Check out other interesting episodes like:ET Deep Dive: Swipe Left on Reality,India wants manufacturing at 25% of GDP — will AI in factories help?, Tanay Kothari Wants To Kill The Keyboard,From Doer to Director: The LinkedIn Playbook for the AI Agea, Semaglutide Goes Generic: Big Pharma’s Moat Breaks  and much more.

Catch the latest episode of ‘The Morning Brief’ on The Economic Times Online, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, JioSaavn, Amazon Music and Youtube.

For decades, regional aviation in India has been a story of false starts, grounded ambitions and struggling airlines. But that may finally be changing.
India makes more than 4 billion intercity trips every year. Yet only 3% happen by air. That gap may be the single biggest untapped opportunity in Indian aviation &mdash; and airlines like Fly91 and aircraft maker ATR believe they are perfectly positioned to capture it.
In this episode of The Morning Brief, Anirban Chowdhury and ET's Forum Gandhi speak with Alexis Vidal, Chief Commercial Officer of ATR, and Manoj Chacko, Managing Director of Fly91, about why regional aviation has historically failed to scale, what has changed in India's smaller cities, and whether the economics finally work. From eliminating check-in entirely and operating with fuel costs at just 22% of revenue, to filling flights with business travellers in places few expected, the conversation explores the opportunities, bottlenecks and big bets shaping India's next aviation frontier.
You can follow Anirban Chowdhury on his social media:<a href="https://twitter.com/AnirbanET"> X</a> and<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/anirban-chowdhury-b5067219/"> Linkedin </a>Check out other interesting episodes like:<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/in/podcast/et-deep-dive-swipe-left-on-reality/id1568661777?i=1000763614435&amp;l=te">ET Deep Dive: Swipe Left on Reality</a>,<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/in/podcast/india-wants-manufacturing-at-25-of-gdp-will-ai-in/id1568661777?i=1000760758322">India wants manufacturing at 25% of GDP &mdash; will AI in factories help?</a>, <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tanay-kothari-wants-to-kill-the-keyboard/id1568661777?i=1000758892178">Tanay Kothari Wants To Kill The Keyboard</a>,<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/in/podcast/the-morning-brief/id1568661777?i=1000738205536"> </a><a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/in/podcast/from-doer-to-director-the-linkedin-playbook-for-the-ai-age/id1568661777?i=1000756242616">From Doer to Director: The LinkedIn Playbook for the AI Agea</a>, <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/in/podcast/the-morning-brief/id1568661777?i=1000756051799">Semaglutide Goes Generic: Big Pharma&rsquo;s Moat Breaks</a>&nbsp; and<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/in/podcast/the-morning-brief/id1568661777"> much more</a>.
Catch the latest episode of &lsquo;The Morning Brief&rsquo; on<a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/podcast?from=mdr"> The Economic Times Online</a>,<a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/6PL5kfPbwURBEu6fHCVTOL?si=26ec0fbfa7134fea"> Spotify</a>,<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/in/podcast/the-morning-brief/id1568661777"> Apple Podcasts</a>,<a href="https://www.jiosaavn.com/shows/the-morning-brief/1/GNPiFQD2xpY_"> JioSaavn</a>,<a href="https://music.amazon.in/podcasts/f378141f-9afb-495d-83da-9b08ec5047ac/the-morning-brief"> Amazon Music</a> and<a href="https://www.youtube.com/@theetpodcasts"> Youtube</a>.

To make sense of the week’s hottest stories in business, economy, politics and markets, journalists from the Economic Times chat with reporters and industry leaders in this thrice-weekly (Tuesday, Thursday, Friday) podcast.