Domestic air passenger traffic at 13.1 million in January – ET Infra

NEW DELHI: Indian airlines carried 13.12 million passengers in January, an increase of almost 4.7% year-on-year, as per data released by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation. January traffic was however down from 13.8 million passengers flown in December.

In terms of market share, InterGlobe Aviation Ltd-run IndiGo retained the top spot at 60.2% in January, but was down from 61.8% in December.

Air India was at a distant second with a market share of 12.2% in the month, but was up 100 basis points compared to 11.2% in December. Vistara came in at third position with a market share at 9.9%, marginally up from 9.5% in December.

SpiceJet’s market share in the month was at 5.6%, unchanged from December, while for Akasa Air it was at 4.5%, marginally up from 4.4% in December.

AIX Connect’s market share was at 6.1%, marginally down from 6.2% in December. Regional carrier Alliance Air’s market share was at 1.0%, compared to 0.9% in December.

Vistara recorded the highest load factor among the airlines at 94.2% in January, up from 93.3% in December. Market leader IndiGo’s passenger load was at 88.4% in the month, down from 90.7% in December.

The load factor of SpiceJet stood at 93.7% in January compared to 93.5% in the previous month, while that of Akasa Air was at 92.4% in January as against 93.9% in December. Air India’s load factor was at 87.3% in January, compared to 88.2% in the previous month.

AIX Connect’s load factor was at 87.6% in the month as against 89.1% in December, while Alliance Air recorded a load factor of 80.1% in January, up from 77.0% in the previous month.

While punctuality at most airports located in North India, especially at Delhi International Airport, was impacted by fog during the month, Akasa Air was the most punctual airline with a on-time performance of 71.8% at four airports – Bangalore, Delhi, Hyderabad, and Mumbai.