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SpiceJet Clocks Highest Passenger Growth In More Than Three Years

SpiceJet also reported the fastest passenger growth than IndiGo for the second straight month in June.

A SpiceJet Ltd. aircraft prepares to land at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai, India (Photographer: Dhiraj Singh/ Bloomberg)
A SpiceJet Ltd. aircraft prepares to land at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai, India (Photographer: Dhiraj Singh/ Bloomberg)

The number of passengers flying in SpiceJet Ltd. grew at its fastest pace in more than three years in June as the nation’s second-largest airline added capacity.

The year-on-year passenger growth of the Ajay Singh-led airline stood at nearly 37 percent last month, the highest in 38 months, according to BloombergQuint’s calculations based on the data from Directorate General of Civil Aviation. SpiceJet also reported the faster passenger growth than India’s largest carrier IndiGo for the second straight month.

Air traffic for all Indian carriers grew 6 percent over the last year—the highest in five months—even as the seasonally strong holiday season ended. Around 1.2 crore passengers took to the skies in June, the data showed.

  • GoAir’s passenger growth stood at 26 percent.
  • Passenger growth of Vistara stood at 43 percent—the highest in 14 months.
  • AirAsia’s passenger growth stood at 28.5 percent—the highest in three months.
  • Air India’s passenger growth stood at 10 percent—the highest in 10 months.

Passenger load factor—the percentage of seats filled or a measure of capacity utilisation—improved for all major airlines over last year as more Indians flew.

Vistara, controlled by Tata group, however, witnessed an increase in the number of empty seats for the ninth straight month. SpiceJet reported a growth in its seat occupancy for the first time in 13 months. It continued to report a load factor of more than 90 percent for nearly four years. While InterGlobe Aviation Ltd.-operated IndiGo reported a growth in its load factor for the first time in 11 months, Wadia Group-controlled GoAir reported the highest seat occupancy in at least five years.

  • IndiGo’s passenger load factor increased 180 basis points to 90.1 percent.
  • SpiceJet’s passenger load factor rose 40 basis points to 93.7 percent.
  • AirAsia’s passenger load factor rose 400 basis points to 90.7 percent.
  • Vistara’s passenger load factor fell 240 basis points to 83.3 percent.
  • Passenger load factor of GoAir rose 540 basis points to 94 percent.
  • Passenger load factor of Air India rose 30 basis points to 81.2 percent.

SpiceJet’s market share rose to 15.6 percent in June—the highest in nearly five years. The share of IndiGo, however, fell to 48 percent from its peak of 50 percent a couple of months back. Air India’s market share slipped below 13 percent, while AirAsia and Vistara’s together rose to 12 percent.