India’s domestic flyer headcount rises to 1.4 crore in May

New Delhi. June 25
India’s domestic air passenger traffic registered a 1.89 per cent increase during May this year to 1.4 crore, compared to the corresponding figure of 1.38 crore in the same month last year, according to the latest data compiled by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

Operations at over 30 airports near the border regions were impacted for around a week's time in May, due to the India-Pakistan conflict that followed the massacre of 26 people in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam by Pakistan-based terrorists.

The disruption in flight services also affected the passenger load factor (PLF) of all airlines, which reflects the number of occupied seats on a flight. IndiGo's PLF fell to 85.1 per cent from 86.9 per cent in the same month of the previous year, SpiceJet’s PLF declined to 84 per cent from 86 per cent, and Air India's PLF dipped to 80.2 per cent from 83.3 per cent. Akasa Air's recorded the highest PLF for the month at 91.4 per cent.

IndiGo, the leading country’s leading airline, increased its market share to 64.6 per cent in May from 64.1 per cent as the low-cost airline carried 90.8 lakh passengers during the month.

Air India, on the other hand, registered a decline in its market share to 26.5 per cent from 27.2 per cent. The airline national carrier carried 37.22 lakh passengers during the month. Among other carriers, SpiceJet saw a fall in market share to 2.4 per cent from 2.6 per cent, and Akasa Air raised its share to 5.3 per cent from 5 per cent.

The domestic airlines received around 958 passengers related complaints in May, with Alliance Air receiving the maximum complaints followed by Fly Big and Spice Jet.

In terms of on-time performance, IndiGo performed better than its rivals with 84 per cent accuracy, followed by Air India group at 79.7 per cent, Akasa Air at 78.9 per cent, Alliance Air at 53.5 per cent, and SpiceJet at 50.1 per cent, as per the data. The cancellation rate of domestic flights during May stood at 2.51 per cent.