New Delhi, Dec. 23 -- Last November, when Vistara merged with Air India, there was a change in market leadership on certain domestic routes. Vistara, which had aggressively expanded after the fall of Jet Airways, was neck-and-neck with its erstwhile rival Air India on a few routes, after IndiGo had gained market leadership from Jet.

Overnight, the tables turned post-merger, with Air India seizing the leadership position on the country's top two routes - Delhi-Mumbai-Delhi and Delhi-Bengaluru-Delhi. A year down the line, Air India has made further inroads, challenging IndiGo across the top 10 routes in the country. This explains why IndiGo has not vacated any of the metro routes in its recent flight cuts, even as it expands with a busines...