Domestic airlines may be struggling with their finances with lower yields, but passenger traffic continues its rising trend. According to data released by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Monday, domestic carriers carried 11.6 million passengers in July, up 21% compared with the same month last year. Though July is traditionally a weak month for carriers, this time the growth was robust because generally, the fares were much lower than what they were during the same month last year. Last year in July, the growth in passengers was 12.4%, the slowest during the 2017 calendar. All major scheduled carriers witnessed a jump in passenger traffic during the month.
The country’s largest domestic airline, IndiGo increased its monthly passenger count by 31.7% year-on-year to 4.86 million. Jet Airways, the second largest airline by market share, reported 0.5% y-o-y growth with 1.74 million tourists booking its flights. National carrier Air India recorded a 10.7% growth in air traffic, carrying 1.43 million passengers. Low-cost carrier SpiceJet ferried 1.42 million passengers in July, up 5% y-o-y. For Mumbai-based GoAir, domestic passenger traffic grew by 38.4% y-o-y to 1.02 million. Tata Sons joint ventures AirAsia and Vistara flew 0.55 million and 0.45 million passengers respectively, up by 62% and 29% y-o-y. Since July is a lean period for air travel, this time all major airlines offered discounted fares in the form of limited period sale.
For instance, IndiGo ran a sale offering flight tickets starting `1,200 on domestic routes to push sales. SpiceJet, GoAir, Jet Airways and others also ran similar discounts. The sale reflected on the passenger load factor (PLF) with airlines witnessing a sharp rise in the seat occupancy. IndiGo flew with 88.7% aircraft full in July against 83.7% a year ago, up 6% y-o-y. Air India recorded 9% y-o-y jump in occupancy to 82.3%. Full-service carrier Jet’s aircraft occupancy stood at 82.2%, up 2% y-o-y. Only SpiceJet, AirAsia and Vistara recorded a decline in seat occupancy. SpiceJet’s PLF was down 0.6% y-o-y to 93.8%. The occupancy on AirAsia flights was down 10% y-o-y to 79.7%.
Vistara planes were flying with 84.1% load factor as against 84.6%, down 0.5% y-o-y. In terms of market share, Jet Airways, Air India and SpiceJet have lost out in the domestic space in July compared with last year. Jet, which is facing financial troubles, recorded a drop from 18.2% in July 2017 to 15.1% this year. Air India lost out 110 basis points in market share to 12.4% and SpiceJet share in the domestic pie reduced to 12.3% in July from 14.2% a year earlier. IndiGo was the major gainer as it accounted for 42.1% of the highly competitive domestic market. GoAir also gained market share to 8.9% from 7.8% y-o-y. Air Asia and Vistara, too, improved their standing.