Domestic air traffic in October rises nearly 10 per cent on month

Domestic air traffic grew almost 10 per cent in October compared to the previous month with IndiGo claiming it had flown almost one-third of total passengers in October. The number of total passengers carried by domestic carriers between January and October this year was 507.02 lakh, 4.77 per cent higher than 483.95 lakh in 2012, official data showed.

It also showed that the airlines together flew 50.08 lakh passengers in October compared to 45.55 lakh in September, reflecting a 9.9 per cent growth.

The data, collated by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation from the airlines, showed IndiGo had the maximum market-share of 30.2 per cent last month, followed by its no-frill competitor SpiceJet with 20 per cent.

Jet Airways-JetLite combine claimed a market-share of 23.8 per cent, followed by Air India (domestic) with 18.4. GoAirand start-up carrier Air Costa had 7.7 per cent and 0.1 per cent, respectively.

Air India’s passenger load factor stood at 70.7 per cent, following that of the top-runner IndiGo which registered 74.8 per cent. The load factor recorded for all other airlines hovered between 48.5 and 68.9 per cent.

The top four airlines in terms of number of passengers carried during the January-October period this year were IndiGo with 147.15 lakh, Air India 96.80 lakh, SpiceJet 96.49 lakh and Jet Airways 93.67 lakh, the DGCA data showed.