New Delhi, March 9 -- Ahead of the summer season, India's two leading airlines are ramping up their international presence. IndiGo, the market leader in the Indian international segment, has announced four new destinations-Mauritius, Langkawi, Penang and Medinah. That takes its international destination count to 38. In February, Air India announced more flights on 10 international routes from end-March, as well as new or expanded tie-ups with five foreign carriers covering 48 foreign destinations.

In IndiGo's last earnings call in January, its chief executive officer, Pieter Elbers, gave two reasons why his airline is keenly pursuing international expansion. The first was the relatively small numbers of Indians flying abroad, and their l...