After reaching the second spot along with Kingfisher Airlines in terms of market share, low-cost carrier IndiGo has slid slightly on the ladder. The airline now stands again at third spot behind Kingfisher and Jet-JetLite combine, data released by Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for the month of January showed.
Airline industry leader Jet Airways along with its wholly-owned subsidiary JetLite commands nearly one-fourth or 24.8% share in the domestic market followed by Kingfisher which holds 19.5% as per the latest available figures. IndiGo had pipped state-owned Air India (domestic) in November last to become the third largest carrier of the country.
Riding the robust growth in the economy and buoyant market sentiment domestic airline carried 49.36 lakh passengers during January registering 20.7% growth over the corresponding period in the previous year. Most of the carriers are on expansion spree with low-cost airlines leading the drive. The airline industry is estimated to add about 10-12% capacity in the next few month to cater to the additional demand.?IndiGo would add four more planes to its fleet by April. The airline is looking at smaller towns and cities for additional passenger traffic,? an industry watcher said. Another low-cost carrier SpiceJet is planning to induct Bombardier Q400 regional jets to mount capacity on tier-II cities operating on hub-and-spoke model. The airline is expected to add 15 such airplanes to its fleet in the next few quarters.
?The year-on-year data indicates that trend of increase in both the capacity and demand continued in the month of January 2011 also,? a civil aviation ministry statement said.
The domestic air traffic has continued its upswing since April-June 2009 after the global economic downturn triggered by the collapse of banking giant Lehman Brothers in the second half of 2008. The passenger traffic grew 18.7% in 2010 to 520.2 lakh over the previous year.