In September, a significant number of air travelers in India faced disruptions in their travel plans, with more than 76,000 passengers encountering issues related to flight cancellations and delays, a PTI report said. IndiGo, a prominent budget carrier, bore the brunt of this situation, affecting over 76,000 passengers, while Air India, under Tata ownership, denied boarding to 450 passengers during the same month. These revelations come from data released by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
The data also unveiled encouraging news regarding India
Indigo’s flight cancellations
Of the 76,612 passengers affected, a majority, specifically 50,945, faced disruption as a result of IndiGo‘s outright flight cancellations in September. An additional 25,667 passengers encountered inconveniences due to the airline’s flights experiencing delays of over two hours during the month.
Indigo’s response to flight disruptions
It is noteworthy that IndiGo responded differently to these two types of disruptions. While the airline provided alternative flights and full refunds to passengers affected by flight cancellations, passengers subjected to delays of over two hours received only refreshments, as per DGCA data. The airline’s challenges were compounded by the fact that 46 out of its fleet of 334 aircraft were grounded due to various supply chain issues at the time, according to the aircraft fleet tracking website Planespotters.
What about Air India and Spicejet?
In addition to IndiGo, Air India and SpiceJet
Indigo still dominates with soaring passenger numbers
During September, IndiGo maintained its position as the leader in domestic air passenger traffic, carrying a substantial 77.70 lakh passengers. Following IndiGo were Vistara, which transported 12.29 lakh passengers, and Air India with 11.97 lakh passengers.
In terms of market share, Vistara and Air India commanded 10% and 9.8%, respectively, during the previous month, as per DGCA data. Air India’s subsidiary, AirAsia India, now rebranded as AiX Connect, transported 8.16 lakh passengers and held a 6.7% market share. Meanwhile, the two other no-frills carriers, SpiceJet and Akasa Air, accommodated 5.45 lakh and 5.17 lakh passengers on their flights, respectively, with market shares of 4.4% and 4.2% during September, according to DGCA data.
The DGCA data also revealed that IndiGo achieved the highest on-time performance at 83.6% from four key airports – Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad – in the previous month. Vistara recorded an impressive 92% load factor on its planes, the highest among all domestic airlines during the same period.