Why India should have an informal ceiling on number of domestic airlines

India already has six airlines which is one too many if not two and economics suggests that either all will make losses or, even if some make profits, these will be low in relation to the investment

It seems India will have two more airlines this year, one new and another resurrected. Some say one could start flying as early as July.

This is not a good idea. The government — which seems innocent of the economics of capital-intensive businesses — has already issued the licence to the new airline. Fortunately, it’s not the taxpayer who will have to pay the price for this mistake.

We already have six airlines, which is one too many if not two. These are Air India, Vistara, Indigo, Spice Jet, Air Asia, and Go Air. The first three account for over