Air passenger traffic growth slows in May

NEW DELHI: The number of domestic air passengers in India registered a slower growth of 16.53% during May on account of rising fuel prices leading to increase in fares.

As per the data released by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Tuesday, Indian carriers carried 11.9 million passengers during the month, up from 10.17 million in May 2017.

Industry insiders say that lower growth is due to higher fares but expect the growth trend to continue.


"With summer holidays continuing in many parts of the country and people already planning their monsoon getaways, the demand for flight tickets is on the rise. A decline in growth is owing to the increase in fuel prices and travel in particular sectors becoming expensive. However, despite the increase in ATF surcharge and fuel prices, many airlines are seeing the increased demand as a great opportunity to attract travellers with discounts and offers for the ongoing holiday season,” said Aloke Bajpai, CEO at ixigo, an online travel portal.

However, all key scheduled carriers flew their planes with over 80% of their seats full. Gurgaon-based SpiceJet continued to maintain its pole position in terms of load factor by flying its planes 94.8% full, followed by IndiGo, which flew its planes with 91% seats followed by AirAsia India at 89.7%.

"The passenger load factor in the month of May 2018 has shown increasing trend compared to previous month primarily due to onset of tourist season," the aviation regulator said in the report.

"SpiceJet has yet again recorded the highest PLF in the industry. This is the 38th month in a row that we have flown with the highest loads in the Indian aviation market which is a testament of the combined effort put in by Team SpiceJet,” Shilpa Bhatia, chief sales and revenue officer, SpiceJet, was quoted in a statement issued by the airline.

In terms of operating flights on time, Air India became the worst performer for May. While Air India operated 69.8% of its flights on time, IndiGo topped the list by operating 80.9% of its flights on time. SpiceJet was second, having operated 80% of its flights on time.