AirAsia is shrinking across Southeast Asia, and the clearest sign of what that means for rivals is on routes between Malaysia and India.
For the first time since 2021, the Malaysia-based low-cost airline group is no longer the biggest operator between Malaysia and India. Malaysia Airlines has scheduled 1.57 million seats on the route in 2026, against a combined 1.42 million for AirAsia and its long-haul affiliate AirAsia X, according to Cirium data.
Malaysia Airlines got there without growing much. Its seats are up 1% from 2025. The AirAsia group’s are meanwhile down 21% — a loss of nearly 378,000 seats in a year.
The overall Malaysia–India market has shrunk 10% in seats this year. Malaysia Airlines’ share has climbed from 34% to 38%, while AirAsia group’s share has fallen from 39% to 35%. Some rivals are not filling the gap: IndiGo’s seats fell 18% and Batik Air’s 9%. Air India is the only carrier that’s growing strongly — it i
Source: skift.com
