Ankit Sawant — Essays on travel tech, Indian aviation & building OnArrival.
Jan
08
2026
Travel's Philosopher & Conformist Problem
We've gotten extraordinarily good at travel logistics. We can book anything in seconds. We've made travel frictionless. But have we made it meaningless?
4 min read
Aug
26
2025
AI & Travel – Current Challenges & Opportunities
AI in travel is stuck at a bottleneck: itineraries are easy to generate, but direct booking isn’t solved. True impact lies in margin optimisation - cutting ops costs & enabling smarter cross-sell - while context gaps & high compute costs keep “plan-and-book” AI out of reach
4 min read
Nov
10
2024
A Cleartrip, down the memory lane!
Reflecting on my journey with Cleartrip: from my first flight to leading teams across India & Dubai. Cleartrip was a place of balance, deep UX focus & a culture like no other.
13 min read
Nov
09
2024
How to get a refund when you aren't able to take the flight
It's just easier to keep the ticket & not cancel as the cancellation charges are higher than the ticket cost.
2 min read
Nov
09
2024
Indigo's Achilles Heel
Indigo’s journey to becoming the first airline to carry 200 million passengers is within reach, but profitability challenges loom. With a Q2 FY25 loss of ₹987 crores, the path forward may lie in boosting ancillary revenue—a key lever global LCCs use to stay profitable.
4 min read
Nov
09
2024
Slowing middle class, b2b opportunity in travel, & insecure middle management
While major FMCG brands worry about a slowing middle class, the travel industry is skyrocketing, driven by increasing discretionary spending. 🚀 Did you know MakeMyTrip’s profits surged 8x YoY in Q2FY25, and ixigo’s GMV grew by 40%? And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
3 min read
Nov
09
2024
Uber's $20 Billion Bid for Expedia
Uber’s super-app ambitions meet travel: what a $20 billion bid for Expedia would mean for OTAs, loyalty programs, and the future of booking.
5 min read