New Delhi, India: Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Friday (May 20) released reports on Domestic air passenger traffic in April 2022 which indicates a growth of 1.7 per cent on a month-on-month basis to 108.80 lakh.
According to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) data, passenger load factors of all major airlines — Air India, SpiceJet, GoFirst, IndiGo, AirAsia India, and Vistara — fell in April as compared to March.
Indigo witnessed a decline as its passenger load factor (PLF) came down to 78.7 per cent in April, as compared to 81 per cent in March and 85.2 per cent in February.
SpiceJet’s PLF dropped to 85.9 per cent in April from 86.1 per cent in March and 89.1 per cent in February while Air India’s PLF fell to 79.5 per cent in April from 85 per cent in March and 84.1 per cent in February. GoFirst’s PLF also fell to 80.3 per cent in April from 81.4 in March.
Passenger load factor measures the seat capacity utilisation of the airline.
Indigo continued to maintain its leadership position, with a market share of 58.9 per cent during the month of April. The numbers marked a rise as compared to March and February when the airline’s market share stood at 54.8 per cent and 51.3 per cent, respectively.
Air India’s market share slipped to 7.6 per cent in April from 8.8 per cent in March and 11.1 per cent in February.
SpiceJet’s market share dropped 30 basis points in April from March to 9.2 per cent. The airline had a market share of 10.7 per cent in February.
The overall cancellation rate of scheduled domestic airlines for April came in at 0.12 per cent, the DGCA said.
During the same period, a total of 360 passenger-related complaints had been received by the domestic airlines, the aviation body said, pointing out that the maximum number of complaints was registered by Air India.
Last week, market research firm ICRA said the recovery of India’s aviation industry may take a hit due to rising prices of Aviation turbine fuel.”ATF prices have surged by 89 per cent on a Y-o-Y basis in May 2022 given the elevated crude oil prices due to geopolitical issues arising from the Russian invasion of Ukraine,” ICRA said, adding that the rise in ATF prices will continue to weigh on the earnings of Indian carriers in 2022-23.
