Domestic air passenger traffic down 66% in September — IndiGo holds the largest market share: DGCA

A total of 39.43 lakh domestic passengers travelled by air in September this year, 66 per cent lower than the corresponding period last year, the country's aviation regulator DGCA said on Wednesday. As many as 21.07 lakh and 28.32 lakh people travelled by air domestically this July and August, respectively, the regulator had said last month.

While IndiGo carried 22.66 lakh passengers in September, a 57.5 per cent share of the total domestic market, SpiceJet flew 5.3 lakh passengers, which is 13.4 per cent share of the total market, according to data shared by the DGCA.

Air India, AirAsia India, Vistara and GoAir carried 3.72 lakh, 2.35 lakh, 2.58 lakh and 2.64 lakh passengers respectively in September, the data showed.

The occupancy rate or load factor of six major Indian airlines was between 57 and 73 per cent in September, it said Wednesday.

"The passenger load factor in the month of September 2020 has shown some recovery due to increased demand after the opening of lockdown," said the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

The occupancy rate in SpiceJet was 73 per cent in September, the regulator noted.

Meanwhile, the occupancy rate for other major airlines Vistara, IndiGo, AirAsia India, Air India and GoAir stood at 66.7 per cent, 65.4 per cent, 58.4 per cent, 57.9 per cent and 57.6 per cent, respectively, according to the DGCA.

India resumed domestic passenger flights on May 25 after a gap of two months due to the coronavirus pandemic. Indian airlines are allowed to operate a maximum of 60 per cent of their pre-COVID-19 domestic flights.

A total of 19.84 lakh passengers travelled domestically in June this year. Between May 25 and May 31, 2.81 lakh air passengers had travelled domestically, the DGCA noted.

The DGCA data mentioned that in September, AirAsia India had the best on-time performance of 98.4 per cent at four metro airports -- Bengaluru, Delhi, Hyderabad and Mumbai.

IndiGo and Vistara were at number two and three at these four airports in September with 98.2 per cent and 95.5 per cent on-time performance, respectively, the regulator said.

The aviation sector has been significantly impacted due to the travel restrictions imposed in India and other countries in view of the coronavirus pandemic.

All airlines in India have taken cost-cutting measures such as pay cuts, leave without pay and firing of employees in order to tide over the crisis.

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