Indians Now Boarding For Central Asia

Just over a three-hour flight from Delhi, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and Georgia have seen a big jump in visitors.

Central Asia -- including Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and Georgia -- has emerged as a top destination for Indian travellers seeking affordable international holidays, especially as Europe becomes increasingly expensive and visa processes slow down.

India's largest budget carrier, IndiGo, which launched its services to this region last August with its first flight to Baku (Azerbaijan), is now aggressively expanding its capacity.

National carriers in these countries are also seizing the opportunity, launching more flights to attract Indian travellers.

Just over a three-hour flight from Delhi, these four countries have seen a big jump in visitors.

According to data from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, the number of Indians travelling to these countries more than doubled in the first quarter (Q1) of the calendar year 2024, rising by 104 per cent to 76,341 from 37,254 in the same period last year.

In Azerbaijan, for example, there were no recorded passengers from India to Baku in Q1 of CY 2022 and only 799 passengers in Q1 of CY 2023.

However, in 2024, the number surged to a staggering 14,956 -- a nearly 18 fold increase.

The number of Indians travelling to Tashkent (Uzbekistan) more than doubled to 23,460, while the number flying to Almaty (Kazakhstan) grew by 53 per cent to 31,972.

Airlines are responding to this boom by offering more seats.

For instance, the number of seats available for Central Asia from India increased 2.7 times in July, reaching 36,868 compared to the same month last year, according to Cirium data.

IndiGo, which started operations in August last year, now accounts for over 37 per cent of the total seats between India and Central Asia.

Central Asia now represents over 8 per cent of the Indians who travelled abroad in Q1 of CY 2024.

It is closing in on other popular tourist destinations such as the Maldives (83,785 Indian travellers in Q1) and Vietnam (89,087 in the same period).

Already, more Indians travelled to Kazakhstan in Q1 of CY 2024 than to Italy and Indonesia.

What drives this surge?

Anil Kalsi, vice-president of the Travel Agents Federation of India, explains: "The trend began with Kazakhstan removing visa requirements for Indians. IndiGo recognised the potential in the region and made the bold decision to start flights to all four locations."

"This gamble has paid off, as Indians have taken advantage of the easy visa access, lower costs compared to Europe (less than half), the currency advantage over Euro and the variety of experiences these countries offer, some of which are reminiscent of Europe."

IndiGo is now ramping up its operations on these routes, launching daily flights to Tbilisi (Georgia), Almaty, and Tashkent to meet the growing demand.

Previously, it operated four flights a week from Tashkent and Almaty and three from Tbilisi.

It has already increased its frequency to Baku to daily flights as of March this year.

In response to the growing demand, national carriers in some of these countries are also expanding their services.

Air Astana, Kazakhstan's national carrier, has introduced its low-cost carrier FlyArystan for certain frequencies to compete with IndiGo, increasing its flights to 14 per week from India.

Azerbaijan Airlines, also known as AZAL, has also ramped up its operations, increasing its flights from Delhi to daily and reinstating twice-weekly flights to Mumbai, which had been suspended during the pandemic.

However, travel experts offer a word of caution. While introductory airfares from India on IndiGo were initially very affordable, growing demand has led to prices now matching those of Southeast Asian countries.

Although hotels remain cheaper, this may change as more tourists visit these destinations.

Feature Presentation: Ashish Narsale/Rediff.com