Singapore Airlines Ltd. just picked a fight with Emirates in a grab for India’s international travelers, and a slice of one of the world’s fastest-growing aviation markets.
Singapore Air’s unprofitable Indian venture Vistara completed its first overseas flight — between New Delhi and Singapore — on Wednesday. It’s the start of an uphill battle against Middle East airline giants, led by Emirates and Etihad Airways PJSC, that dominate India’s offshore routes.
For Singapore Air, ambushed all over Southeast Asia by budget airlines, the prize is clear. The number of passengers in India will more than triple to 520 million by 2037, the International Air Transport Association says. And of the 63 million people that flew to and from the country last year, two thirds were carried by foreign airlines.
