New Delhi, May 14 -- India's smaller airlines are bearing the brunt of the West Asia conflict, with Air India Express, Akasa Air and SpiceJet reducing international departures by nearly 60% in April and so far in May, even as larger carriers IndiGo and Air India cut overseas departures by about 21% during the same period. SpiceJet's international departures fell 59% to 305 during April and May, while Akasa Air's dropped 57% to 136 and Air India Express recorded a 56% decline to 1,818 departures, according to data compiled by UK-based aviation analytics firm OAG and reviewed by Mint. In contrast, IndiGo and Air India saw comparatively smaller reductions of 21%, with departures falling to 6,574 and 4,059, respectively. Taken together, international departures from India's five largest airlines are down 30% in April and May to 12,892, with seat counts also down an identical 30% to 2.6 million, OAG data showed. The sharpest reductions have been on West Asia routes-among the most lucrative overseas markets for Indian low-cost carriers. Air India Express had the highest exposure to the region in terms of daily departures from India, followed by SpiceJet and Akasa Air. "Smaller airlines operate narrow-body planes on short-haul international routes, with Middle East (West Asia) destinations being the most lucrative. Since March, there has been a hit on these routes. Compared to larger players like Air India or IndiGo, the exposure of smaller players like Air India Express or SpiceJet to the Middle East is significantly higher, so the impact is larger," said Gagan Dixit, senior vice president - aviation, chemicals, oil & gas analyst at Elara Capital. "For large players, Middle East destinations are part of a broader international network. But for budget carriers, they account for a significant share of international operations," he added. Analysts said the disruption is being compounded by multiple cost and operational pressures beyond route concentration....