Domestic air traffic in India rises 22% in a month, signalling an air-travel boom

There is no doubt that after the pandemic, the travel and tourism industry is bouncing back. Among all the industries returning to normal, aviation is booming in India. In the month of August 2023, air traffic in India increased by 22%, according to the latest data from DGCA.

The numbers

• In August, Indian airlines transported 1.24 crore passengers, marking a 22.8% increase compared to the previous month. 
• During the first eight months of 2023, the airlines carried 10.06 crore passengers, a significant surge from 7.70 crore during the same period the previous year, representing an increase of over 30.55%.

• Air traffic in India has now returned to pre-Covid levels. In July 2019, domestic airlines transported 1.19 crore passengers.
• August marks the sixth consecutive month in which domestic air traffic in India has exceeded pre-Covid levels.

Passengers carried by domestic airlines during January-August 2023 were 1006.16 lakhs as against 770.70 lakhs during the corresponding period of the previous year, thereby registering an annual growth of 30.55% and monthly growth of 22.81%: Directorate General of Civil Aviation… pic.twitter.com/KNGIEYhlIH

— ANI (@ANI) September 14, 2023

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Indigo tops the market share again 

In August, IndiGo continued to have the largest market share at 63.3 per cent, followed by Air India and Vistara with a 9.8 per cent share each. SpiceJet overtook Akasa and registered a market share of 4.4 per cent. Akasa's market share in August stood at 4.2 per cent, Air Asia's at 7.1 per cent.

The growth of the Indian aviation sector is taking place under some unique circumstances, including:

1. The declaration of bankruptcy by Go First in May 2023.
2. The ongoing merger process between Vistara and Air India, two of the top market shareholders. Together, they hold 26.7% market share this month. 

But here's the thing: If you look at the load factor (which measures the percentage of available seating capacity that has been filled with passengers) of these Indian airlines, there's another airline that has beaten IndiGo – it's Vistara.

According to DGCA, Vistara had a load factor of 91.3% in August 2023, whereas IndiGo had a load factor of 83.6%.

READ MORE: 218 planes, 15k employees: What does Vistara and Air India merger mean for the Indian sky?

The complaints 

But with the growth, also comes the increase in the complaints by consumers. According to CNBC, during August 2023, a total of 288 passenger-related complaints were received by scheduled domestic airlines.

READ MORE: DGCA has put 166 people on the no-fly list since 2021. How you can avoid being on it

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