InterGlobe Aviation-run IndiGo, which launched its BluChip programme in September 2024, 107million passengers in calendar 12 months 2025, information from India’s aviation regulator present. This means that about 1 in 10 passengers who flew IndiGo are members of its loyalty program.
Air India, which relaunched its loyalty programme in November 2024, has 10 million members in its Maharaj Membershipup from two million in January 2022, when the Tata Group purchased the airline. Tata Sons, the holding firm of the privately held aviation enterprise, merged Vistara with Air India, each full service carriers, in November 2024, giving a lift to its frequent-flyer scheme.
A single loyalty programme being applied for Air India and its funds provider, Air India Specific, is anticipated to be full by the tip of this calendar 12 months, based on an government at Air India and Air India Specific.
Mint independently couldn’t confirm the variety of Air India Specific frequent flyers.
“Trials are at present underway (concerning the loyalty programme of Air India and Air India Specific) and a broader rollout is anticipated within the latter a part of 2026. Will probably be a phase-wise merger,” mentioned a second government. Each executives did not need to be identifed.
IndiGo, Air India, and Air India Specific didn’t provide a remark.
Factors sharing throughout AIX, AI
Within the first part of the loyality programme integration, Air India clients will have the ability to redeem Maharaja Membership factors on Air India Specific flights. Within the second part, Air India Specific clients will have the ability to use NeuPass factors on Air India’s community, considerably increasing redemption choices. NeuPass is a Tata Group rewards programme that aggregates factors on spending on its manufacturers.
The mixing is crucial as a rising share of home and short-haul routes are being shifted from Air India to Air India Specific, as a part of Tata’s technique to place Air India as a premium, three-class provider targeted on main metro markets.
At current, Air India Specific flies to extra locations inside India than the full-scale provider. This implies nearly all of passengers can’t earn factors on their journeys since Maharaja Membership factors are earned solely on Air India and Star Alliance flights, not on Air India Specific flights.
“The Air India Specific integration was a must-do merchandise. The reason being {that a} chunk of the community is being taken away from Air India and handed over to Air India Specific to function the flights. Air India plans to serve premium markets (Mumbai, Delhi, and Bengaluru), the place its three-class airline configuration will be accommodated,” mentioned Ajay Awtaney, founding father of LiveFromALounge.com, an Indian loyalty program analytics web site.
Air India can be positioning loyalty as a part of its broader premium transformation, increasing its Maharaja Lounge idea into extra “luxe” experiences with redesigned areas, improved meals choices, and partnerships with premium manufacturers. It’s planning new lounges in worldwide hubs corresponding to San Francisco and New York.
BluChip @ 8% of spends
IndiGo, in the meantime, is taking a special method. Its BluChip programme is an easy revenue-based mannequin that provides eight factors for each ₹100 spent, that may be redeemed in opposition to free tickets, seat choice, further baggage, and precedence providers. A key differentiator is that factors don’t expire for energetic members.
The airline launched a “Stretch” product, and permits clients to improve to those premium seats utilizing a mixture of money and factors. The business-class product, launched in November 2024, is at present out there on eight home and 9 worldwide routes with plans for growth within the coming months.
“We’re increasing Stretch to a complete of 65 plane, enabling wider community choices for enterprise and premium clients,” mentioned IndiGo chief government Pieter Elbers throughout the airline’s January 2026 earnings name.
Lengthy haul flights to Athens, launched a number of weeks again, are seeing introduction of those premium seats too.
IndiGo has employed loyalty and funds professional Nik Laming as a guide and is exploring partnerships that enable clients to earn BluChip factors past flights, together with by way of banks, fintech corporations and life-style manufacturers corresponding to Nobero.
Loyalty takes centrestage
The worldwide marketplace for journey loyalty programmes was valued at $29.1 billion in 2024 and is projected to succeed in $52.6 billion by 2030, rising at a CAGR of 10.4%, based on a report by Market Glass Inc., a worldwide market insights firm, printed in January 2026.
Trade executives say loyalty programmes have gotten crucial as airways face stress on ticket costs and rising prices, at the same time as passenger progress slows. India’s home air visitors progress fell to three.5% in 2025 from 6% within the earlier 12 months.
“For Air India, scale stays the most important benefit as soon as its group-wide loyalty programme is totally built-in. For IndiGo, the problem will likely be sustaining engagement and not using a premium long-haul community,” mentioned Mark D. Martin, founding father of aviation consultancy Martin Consulting.
Nonetheless, IndiGo’s fast progress displays a deeper change, he mentioned.
“5 years in the past, loyalty wasn’t even a part of IndiGo’s technique. Immediately, it’s central to how airways take into consideration long-term progress and repositions itself as a match for goal airline,” mentioned Martin.
To place numbers in context, Air India Group flew 45 million passengers in 2025 with a 27% marrket share; lower than half of market chief IndiGo, that carried 107 million travellers (64% share of market), reveals December information from regulator Directorate Basic of Civil Aviation.