Jet Airways, SpiceJet, IndiGo and GoAir performed better than the industry in adding passengers in April, gaining from the problems in rival carriers Kingfisher Airlines and Air India.
?Fares have moved up across the board with the summer holiday season just beginning,? said a Mumbai-based travel agent, affiliated to the Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI). ?Passengers are looking for reliable performance rather than low-cost or full-fare.?
The lower capacity from cash-starved Kingfisher Airlines also helped the airlines in filling up their planes. While the industry averaged a seat factor of 77.7%, the four airlines performed equally and IndiGo, SpiceJet and GoAir even outperformed the industry average to report seat factors in the 80% mark.
Kingfisher is operating only 120 daily flights, only a third of what it was operating last summer. The strike by Air India?s pilots flying international routes has also kept passengers away from the national carrier.
?Thanks to the higher fares, yields have shown an improvement of about 15%,? said a senior Jet Airways official. He cannot be identified as the company is in the silent period to announce their fourth quarter and full-fiscal 2012 results on Thursday. ?Along with better yields and higher seat factors, the first quarter of the current fiscal looks to be better. There has been some relief on the aviation turbine fuel cost side as well.?
The June quarter of the fiscal is traditionally a strong quarter for Indian airlines as it coincides with summer vacations in schools and colleges. However, in the April-June 2011 quarter, domestic listed airlines accumulated losses of R458 crore as intense competition brought down fares.
Analysts expect some relief this year with lower capacity and better fare realisations. ?Demand has been quite good in the quarter even has capacity has gone down from Kingfisher,? said Sharan Lilaney, an analyst with Mumbai-based brokerage Angel Broking. ?Even though Air India?s domestic operations have been largely unaffected people have preferred going for private airlines so the June quarter this fiscal should be better for the listed airlines.?
