Akasa Air widens gap with SpiceJet in domestic passenger market share

Akasa Air widened its gap with SpiceJet in July in terms of domestic passengers flown per month, according to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation's (DGCA) monthly data released on Monday.

The new airline carried 618,000 domestic passengers in June and 624,000 in July. In contrast, the financially strained SpiceJet transported 555,000 and 504,000 passengers in June and July, respectively.

Akasa Air, which commenced commercial flights just a year ago, surpassed SpiceJet for the first time in terms of domestic passengers carried per month in June. Akasa Air currently operates a fleet of 20 planes and has plans to launch international flights by the end of this year.

IndiGo, the country’s largest airline, witnessed its domestic market share rise from 63.2 per cent in June to 63.4 per cent in July, according to the DGCA data. Similarly, Air India's market share inched up from 9.7 per cent in June to 9.9 per cent in July.

Overall, the carriers transported a total of 12.1 million domestic air passengers in July, an increase of 31.72 per cent compared to the same month last year.

Akasa Air's share of the domestic passenger market climbed to 5.2 per cent in July from 4.9 per cent in June. Meanwhile, SpiceJet's domestic passenger market share dipped to 4.2 per cent in July from 4.4 per cent in June.