Air passenger traffic shrinks for fifth straight month; declines by 12% in Sept

19 Oct 2012 Evaluate

Continuing to shrink for fifth consecutive month, Air passenger traffic dropped by a record 12.4% in September, as exorbitant fares and a slowing economy dented demand. According to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), only 4.01 million passengers flew in September compared with 4.37 million in the previous month and 4.58 million in the same month last year. Air traffic has been on declining spree since May. It fell 0.87% in May, 3.84% in June and 3.70% in August from the corresponding year-earlier periods. Further, the civil aviation ministry data, showed the total passengers carried by all the domestic airlines in the January-September period declined by a marginal 0.86% at 4.38 million passengers from 4.42 million during the corresponding month of 2011.

On a stand-alone basis, Air India took over Jet Airways (India) in market share, a first in recent times. Air India’s market share was at 19.3% in September while Jet Airways was 18.1%. However, low cost carrier, IndiGo, once again emerged as the market leader, with the airline carrying the highest number of passengers and claiming the largest market share in September. The no-frill airline carried 10.94 lakh passengers and claimed 27.2% market share last month. Meanwhile, market share of SpiceJet was at 18.5%, GoAir at 7.6%, Jet Konnect at 5.7% and finally for the beleaguered Kingfisher Airlines stood at 3.5%.

However, the Air passenger traffic figures could further decline since Airfare in India are likely to rise in the winter season, one because domestic flight capacity is down 19% from a year earlier and secondly, on account of arrival of peak travel season that goes on till January. On one hand, Jet Airways and Air India will reduce flights by 10.9% by 6.2% respectively. On the other, SpiceJet, GoAir and IndiGo will increase flights by 8.87%, 14.8% and 30% respectively.

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