Domestic air passenger traffic grows by 4% in Oct owing to festive season

Indicating some recovery in the aviation sector due to the tourist season, the domestic air passenger traffic this October increased by 3.98 per cent compared to the same month last year, according to data released by the DGCA on Monday.

In September this year, the domestic passenger growth was just 1.18 per cent compared to the same month last year.

The domestic air traffic last month consisted of 12.31 million passengers compared to 11.84 million passengers in the same month last year, a jump of 3.98 per cent, as per data.

On the date for October, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said, "The passenger load factor in the month of October 2019 has shown increasing trend compared to previous months primarily due to the onset of tourist season."

However, the passenger load factor of all major airlines -- Air India, SpiceJet, GoAir, IndiGo, AirAsia and Vistara -- declined in October as compared to September this year, as per DGCA data.

The passenger load factor measures the seat capacity utilisation of the airline.

IndiGo maintained its lead position with 47.4 per cent share of the domestic passenger market in October, the data showed.

SpiceJet's market share increased from 14.7 per cent in September to 16.3 per cent in October, giving it the number two spot, as per the data.

The market share of Air India, GoAir, AirAsia and Vistara was 12.6 per cent, 11.2 per cent, 6.5 per cent and 5.4 per cent respectively last month.

In October this year, a total of 791 passenger-related complaints were received by the domestic airlines, according to DGCA data.

The number of complaints per 10,000 passengers carried for the month of October was around 0.64.

Among major domestic airlines, Air India topped the list of passenger grievances with 1.6 complaints per 10,000 passengers in September, while SpiceJet was on number two position with 0.8 complaints per 10,000 passengers, as per DGCA data.