Demand rises for nonstop flights between India and Canada

India and Canada have recently signed an agreement to allow an unlimited number of flights between the countries thereby increasing the total number of Canada to India flights, which is perfectly in sync with the fact that the demand for non-stop flights has risen remarkably in the past 8 years. The agreement allows the carriers to operate unlimited services between the two countries. A huge demand has emerged for quite a time now.

The number of non-stop Canada to India flights and vice-versa between the countries was zero in 2014 and now it has risen to 48 in 2022.

According to Cerium, which is an aviation analytics company, the average one-way fare for India and Canada non-stop flights excluding taxes has risen from $550 in April 2022 to $640 in August 2022. This is partially owing to high fuel prices due to the Ukraine-Russia conflict but the significant reason behind such an increase in fare in such a short span of time is the rise in demand for non-stop flights between the countries.

Data from recent times indicate that around 30 percent of the Canada-India passenger market now travels on direct services which is way above the number before the pandemic. The Canadian transport minister’s office spokesperson also told that the remaining 70 percent of passenger travel between the countries generally on one-stop flights either through the European nations or gulf countries.

Moreover, the spokesperson also added that over 1.5 million passengers flew between India and Canada in 2019, and between January and August this year only, more than 1 million have already traveled.

Canadian carriers are debarred from using Russian airspace therefore the open skies agreement will immensely benefit Air India. And rightly so Air India is planning to boost its fleet size by placing an order for wide-body aircraft which in turn will have the fuel tank capacity to travel on long-haul routes like India-Canada. The outcome will really give a boost to the Canada to India flights market.

The bilateral air services agreement was in place before the recent open skies agreement that allowed both country’s carriers allowed 35-35 weekly flights. That took the total number of flights to 70. Under the recent agreement, Indian carriers will get access to Edmonton, Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver and two other cities to be selected by India.

Canadian carriers will have access to Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Delhi, Mumbai, and Kolkata. The key point to note is that Amritsar has not been included in the list for Canadian carriers despite demands from passengers from both sides.

As there are many Canadians who want to visit friends and family via last minute flights in the region surrounding Amritsar, Minister Omar Alghabra said he understands the importance of direct flights to Amritsar and rightfully has raised the issue with the Indian counterpart. For the further expansion of the agreement, the minister will continue to remain engaged with his counterpart.

It becomes noteworthy here to mention that India is the top source of immigrants for Canada. India solely accounted for 19.6 percent of the total number of immigrants who shifted to Canada between 2016 and 2021. More than 256,000 Indians immigrated to Canada in these five years.