More Than 10 Million Indians Flew In October
Domestic passenger traffic grew 21% in October.
Domestic air passenger traffic crossed 10 million in October, the second time this year, as the number of Indians travelling spiked during the festival season on competitive fares. That last time the number breached the milestone was in May this year, the holiday season.
The October passenger growth at 21 percent year-on-year was the highest in nine months. From February to September, it hovered in the range of 15-17 percent with exception of June when it rose 20 percent.
Air India Ltd. and SpiceJet Ltd. led the passenger growth charts at 27.3 percent each. For Air India, it was the highest in 13 months. At 20 percent, Jet Airways had its best growth in two years. Indigo flew 11 percent more passengers over a year ago, the slowest growth in three months.
Load factor, the proportion of the seats occupied, grew for the top four airlines over October last year. SpiceJet’s load factor remained above 90 percent for the 30th straight month.
Indigo retained the highest market share among domestic airlines at 39.5 percent, stemming the decline. Along with Indigo, AirAsia India and GoAir gained, while Jet Airways, SpiceJet and Air India lost market share.
