Domestic air passenger traffic increased by 2.2 per cent in January: DGCA

Despite the growing economic slump and drop in the export, the domestic air passenger traffic in January increased by 2.2 per cent to 1.27 crore compared to the same month in 2019.

According to data released by aviation regulator DGCA on Monday (February 17), in comparison, the growth in domestic traffic in December 2019 was 2.56 per cent compared to December 2018.

The passenger load factors of Air India, SpiceJet, GoAir, IndiGo, AirAsia India declined in January 2020 as compared to December last year, as per the DGCA data. The passenger load factor measures the seat capacity utilisation of the airline.

DGCA stated in its report, “The passenger load factor in the month of January 2020 has shown decreasing trend compared to previous month due to end of tourist season.”

With 75.7 per cent, AirAsia India was number one in on-time performance (OTP) measured at four metro cities — Bengaluru, Delhi, Hyderabad and Mumbai. IndiGo at 74 per cent and Vistara at 70.2 per cent were number two and number three respectively on OTP performance at these four cities. IndiGo maintained its lead position with 47.9 per cent share of the domestic passenger market in January 2020, the data showed.

Market share

SpiceJets market share increased from 16.5 per cent in December to 16.6 per cent in January, giving it the number two spot, as per the data. The market share of Air India, GoAir, AirAsia India and Vistara was 11.6 per cent, 9.8 per cent, 6.9 per cent and 6.5 per cent respectively last month.

In January, a total of 798 passenger-related complaints were received by the domestic airlines, according to the DGCA data. The number of complaints per 10,000 passengers carried for the month of December was around 0.62.

Among major domestic airlines, Air India topped the list of passenger grievances with 1.9 complaints per 10,000 passengers in September, while GoAir was on number two position with one complaint per 10,000 passengers, as per the DGCA data.