After witnessing a healthy jump in November, the air passenger growth has dropped in December 2019. While the November passenger growth stood at 11.2%, the same has shrunk to 11.2% in December 2019 on-month, DGCA data showed, CNBC TV-18 reported. Further, Ajay Singh-owned SpiceJet has increased its market share from last month to 16.5% in December, up from 16.1% last month. On the other hand, IndiGo, which is the largest airline in the country by passengers carried, reported no change in its market share. IndiGo still dominates over half of the domestic aviation industry with almost every one in two passengers flown by the airline.
Previously, amid a slowdown in the Indian economy, more passengers flew in November 2019 as compared to the same period last year. “The passenger load factor in the month of trend compared to previous month primarily due to the onset of tourist season,” aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation said in December. The regulator also said that from January-November 2019, over 13 crore passengers were carried. Low-cost carrier IndiGo had maintained its dominant position in November as well with the largest number of passengers carried. In December statistics, IndiGo is followed by SpiceJet and state-run Air India.
In 2019, barring April when the aviation industry reported negative growth, all other months showed an increase in the number of passengers carried. Indian aviation sector had witnessed a flight crunch in several months from March owing to the double whammy of Boeing 737 MAX grounding and shutting down of Naresh Goyal’s Jet Airways. While the former was grounded worldwide after the Ethiopian plane crash tragedy, the latter was compelled to shut down as it failed to raise funds to stay afloat. Other airlines were quick to take up the space ceded by Jet Airways and almost all major airlines increased their market shares after Jet Airways debacle.