Continuing the growth trajectory, domestic air traffic surged 22.45 per cent to 89.66 lakh passengers in November as low fares and introduction of new routes and services in the winter schedule of the local carriers helped them fly more passengers. All Indian airlines, combined, had transported a total of 73.22 lakh passengers in November 2015.
However, seat factor, which is a measure of how much of an airline’s passenger carrying capacity is used or average percentage of seats filled in an aircraft, in November almost remained flat compared to October 2016; primarily due to the end of tourist season, according to Directorate General of Civil Aviation’s (DGCA) data. Gurugram-based budget carrier IndiGo continued its domination in the domestic market, having flown 37.73 lakh passengers during the month and cornered 42.1 per cent market share in this period.
As against this, Jet Airways, together with its subsidiary JetLite, clocked 17.3 per cent market share by carrying 16.54 lakh passengers in the reporting period. Air India stood third with a market share of 12.9 per cent, having flown 11.57 lakh passengers, while budget carrier SpiceJet cornered 12.8 per cent of the total domestic passenger traffic in November, having flown 11.48 lakh passengers during the period.
Another budget airline GoAir managed to get just eight per cent of the market pie as it ferried 7.20 lakh passengers in the previous month. The two startup carriers – Vistara and AirAsia India – cornered two per cent and 2.8 per cent market share respectively in November 2016.
Among the regional carriers, TrueJet and Air Carnival flew 41,000 and 9,000 passengers respectively, while Air Pegasus remained grounded for the fourth consecutive month. With a load factor of 95.5 per cent, low-cost carrier SpiceJet saw the maximum occupancy in its aircraft in the month. Rival IndiGo ranked fourth in terms of number of flight cancellation, after new entrant Air Carnival, regional carrier TrueJet and budget carrier GoAir, as it failed to operate as much as 1.46 per cent of its total flights in November 2016.
The passenger load factor in November 2016 almost remained constant compared to previous month, primarily due to the end of tourist season, the DGCA said. In January to November period of the year, local carriers transported 903.33 lakh passengers compared to 733.82 lakh, an increase of 23.10 percent, in the same period of 2015.
In terms of on-time performance (OTP), SpiceJet delivered the best with 81.7 per cent, followed by Jet Airways/JetLite with 75.9 per cent and Vistara, which recorded 75.2 per cent OTP in November. IndiGo was third from the bottom in terms of OTP, after Air India and GoAir, as more than a quarter of its flights either departed or arrived beyond their scheduled time.
(PTI)
