Jet flies ahead in 2009 as Kingfisher loses ground; air traffic grows 7.8%

Naresh Goyal-promoted Jet Airways has ended year 2009 with a combined market share of 26.5% overtaking Kingfisher Airlines to emerge as the largest player in the domestic airline market. The carrier, which reported a 53% increase in domestic passengers during December, has increased its share from 24.3% in the beginning of the year (January to March quarter) of the year to 26.5% in the fourth quarter.

On the other hand, Kingfisher Airlines has seen its market share erode considerably over the last one year. The Vijay Mallya-promoted airline was the lead player in the market with a share of 27.2% in the first quarter of 2009. However, the airline ended the year with 20.6% share in the fourth quarter.

According to the aviation industry experts, the change in market positions of the two airlines is explained by the fact that for the first two quarters, Kingfisher had 70-80% of its capacity dedicated to its low-cost brand Kingfisher Red.

?After introducing Jet Konnect (its no-frills all economy brand) in May, it was only towards the third quarter when the airline moved almost two-thirds of its capacity to Konnect and that when it gained market share,? said Kapil Kaul, CEO, Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA). At the end of the third quarter, Jet had a market share of 25.5%, more than 22.9% recorded by Kingfisher.

Crisis-hit Air India has also marginally increased its share from 17% in the first quarter to 18.3% at the end of the fourth quarter.

According to the latest figures released by the directorate general of civil aviation (DGCA), airline traffic registered a growth of around 35% in December against the same period last year due to the high demand during the peak season.

Domestic airlines carried a total of 44.87 lakh passengers in December, with the Jet and the JetLite combine leading the pack with a market share of 26.2%, followed by Kingfisher and Air India.

In November, the airline traffic had grown by 30% on a year-on-year basis. In fact, the fourth quarter has been the best for the industry compared to all three quarters with a total of 125.33 lakh passengers. According to DGCA, 2009 saw a 7.86% growth in airline traffic flying a total of 445.13 lakh passengers against 412.71 lakh in 2008.

During December, low-cost carrier IndiGo dominated the seat factor aspect, filling up 90% of its seats, followed by SpiceJet which had a seat factor of 88% and JetLite at 81.6%.

However, JetLite topped the flight cancellation list in December with a 3.2% cancellation rate, while budget airline GoAir had the lowest cancellation rate at 0.5% in the same month, according to DGCA estimates.