India's domestic passenger traffic sees jump, serves over 10 million passengers in September

Bouncing back from the slump of the Covid-19 pandemic the Indian aviation industry is on the path of recovery. The Domestic air passenger volume increased 46.54 percent year on year to 10.35 million in September, according to data released on Wednesday by the aviation safety regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). According to the data, Indian domestic carriers (excluding the recently launched Akasa Air) carried a total of 7.06 million passengers on local routes. On August 7, this year, Akasa Air began domestic flight operations. According to DGCA data, the average passenger load factor (PLF) of these carriers was 77.5 percent, compared to 72.5 percent PLF delivered in August 2022.

PLF is an airline metric that measures how much of an airline's passenger-carrying capacity is used. In terms of market share, leading carrier IndiGo cornered 57 percent of the total domestic traffic pie, carrying 59.72 lakh passengers across its domestic network, followed by full-service carrier Vistara, which flew 9.96 lakh passengers with 9.6 percent market share. The combined market share of Vistara, Air India, and AirAsia India stood at 24.7 percent in September.

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Besides, Vistara also had the best on-time performance, with 91 percent of its flights arriving and departing from four key airports -- Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Bengaluru -- on time.

In Vistara, Tata Group holds 49 percent, while in AirAsia India, it has 83.67 percent holding. Moreover, Tata Group regained control of Air India on January 27 this year following its privatisation.

Meanwhile, Indian airlines are competing for a significant share of international flight operations. in the country. Considering the goal, Air India has announced that the airline plans to achieve 30 percent share of the international flight operations in the country. To achieve the goal the Tata-owned airline has unveiled the revival plan 'Vihaan.AI'. Currently, the airline has a domestic market share of 10 percent and an international market share of 12 percent.

With inputs from PTI