SpiceJet tops flight occupancy figures for the third straight month in August

MUMBAI: Low fare carrier SpiceJet topped flight occupancy figures in the industry for the third straight month in August, although it ceded second position to Jet Airways after ousting it in July.

The carrier managed on average to fill 82.5% of its flights during the month, according to figures from DGCA. In comparison, market leader IndiGo just managed to fill 74.8% of its flights.

SpiceJet has been filling its planes by dint of its repeated offers of rockbottom fares across its network. The airline’s rationale as explained recently by its COO Sanjiv Kapoor is that “it’s a crime to fly empty seats”

SpiceJet in July posted industry-best load factor figure 79.4% during July. In June too, it had the industry's highest seat occupancy levels at 81.4%.

For the month of August, SpiceJet occupied 19.5% of the market, while Jet Airways together with its subsidiary JetLite regained the number 2 position with a 20.1% market share.

Last month, SpiceJet had become India’s number 2 carrier with a 20.9% share while Jet and JetLite were relegated to the number three position a 19.6% share. Since then Jet has been offering aggressive pricing schemes, which experts fear will hamper its margins even as they help fill its planes.