Growth in domestic air traffic flat in Apr

Growth in domestic air traffic slowed in April, after a spike in March, according to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation. In April, domestic traffic fell to 5.07 million from 5.09 million in April 2012, a drop of 0.27 per cent. Overall capacity rose 0.4 per cent, while demand fell 0.2 per cent.

With market share of 29.8 per cent, low-cost airline IndiGo increased its lead over Jet Airways (22.6 per cent). SpiceJet and Air India stood third and fourth, respectively.

Industry experts attributed the sluggish demand to high fares. "In the last couple of months, the fares have been rising. Now, the average ten-day fare is about Rs 5,600, about 10 per cent higher than in May 2012. If fares remain at current levels, we expect May and June could also be weak months for air travel," said Sharat Dhall, chief operating officer of Yatra.com. Deep Kalra, chief executive officer of MakeMyTrip, said: "Demand remains flat because of high fares. There is not enough capacity in the market and barring a couple of airlines, other carriers have not added enough planes, following the exit of Kingfisher Airlines last October."

In April, IndiGo had the highest load factor (83.8 per cent), while Jet Airways had the lowest (69.4).

In March, domestic air travel had recorded good growth, the first time in several months - domestic airlines carried 5.18 million passengers, against 5.1 million in March 2012, a rise of 1.59 per cent.