Cleartrip, predominantly reliant on flight bookings for revenue, is aggressively expanding into hotels, trains, and buses to achieve operational breakeven by early 2027, according to chief growth officer Manjari Singhal.
- Cleartrip plans to raise non-flight revenue share to 45% by 2027
- Competes against giants such as MakeMyTrip, Ixigo, and IRCTC
- Targets operational breakeven early next year after years of losses
What happened
Cleartrip, acquired by Flipkart in 2021, currently generates about 80% of its revenue from flights but is focusing on boosting its hotel, train, and bus segments. The company wants to expand these verticals to increase their revenue contribution to nearly half of total earnings by the end of 2027. This diversification is intended to drive scale and improve profitability, with a target to break even financially in early 2027.
The strategy comes amid intense competition with established rivals such as MakeMyTrip, which recently filed draft IPO papers showing strong profitability and gross bookings exceeding $10 billion. Cleartrip faces entrenched players like Ixigo and IRCTC, which dominate train and bus ticketing segments. Management changes and integration with Flipkart's core commerce teams have characterized Cleartrip’s recent years as it seeks financial turnaround.
Why it matters
Cleartrip’s reliance on air travel bookings has limited its growth and profitability, especially given the volatile impacts on travel due to factors like the pandemic. By increasing its presence in hotels, trains, and buses—segments with potentially higher margins and steadier demand—it hopes to stabilize revenue streams and reduce loss-making operations.
This move also positions Cleartrip to better leverage Flipkart’s extensive Indian consumer base, banking partnerships, and direct supplier relations for hotel inventory. Such efforts aim to deepen market penetration in a highly competitive landscape where market leaders command large shares, making rapid growth challenging but necessary.
What to watch next
Market observers will closely monitor Cleartrip’s ability to increase its non-air revenue share and reduce losses heading into 2027, benchmarking against rivals like MakeMyTrip and Ixigo that have shown stronger financial results. Success in scaling these segments will be critical to securing investor confidence, especially as Flipkart defers its own IPO amid market uncertainty.
Additionally, Cleartrip’s management execution under new leadership, and its capacity to maintain competitive pricing despite heavy dependence on partner-funded discounts, will be key factors. The evolving competitive dynamics with IRCTC’s dominant share of online train bookings and growth in bus ticketing platforms will also impact Cleartrip’s trajectory.