After picking up momentum during the peak months of April, May and June, India’s domestic air traffic grew at a slower pace in July, considered a lean month for the industry. Indian carriers flew 95.65 lakh passengers during the month, a growth of 12.43 percent (YoY) from July 2016 when 85.08 lakh passengers were flown.
The YoY growth was 20 percent in June and 17.36 percent in May.
IndiGo, the budget carrier owned by listed Interglobe Aviation, saw its market share drop to 38.7 percent in July from an average of 40.8 percent in the June 2017 quarter, though it still is the largest in terms of passengers carried.
Full-service carrier Jet Airways and state-owned Air India improved their market share to 15.8 percent and 13.5 percent, respectively from the previous month (June 2017). Low-cost carrier SpiceJet also saw its market share go up to 14.2 percent from 12.9 percent in the June quarter.
The provisional statistics were released by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation on Friday.
Other carriers in the domestic civil aviation space include AirAsia India and Vistara, the two joint ventures of the Tata Group, and Go Air.
From a passenger load factor (PLF) perspective, SpiceJet clocked the highest at 94.4 percent, followed by AirAsia India (88.4 percent) and Vistara (84.6 percent).
Air India’s PLF at 75.5 percent marked a steady decline from 80.9 percent in May and 77 percent in June, according to the regulator’s data.
For SpiceJet, it was yet another month of consistent performance on the PLF front. “This is the 28th month-in-a-row that SpiceJet has flown with load factors in excess of 90%, a feat unparalleled in global aviation history, which firmly establishes our standing as the country’s favourite airliner,” Shilpa Bhatia, Senior VP, Commercial, SpiceJet, said in a statement.
On Friday, Interglobe Aviation shares closed 3.07 percent lower at Rs 1,270 apiece, SpiceJet ended 1.97 percent higher at Rs 134 while Jet Airways closed 1.75 percent lower at Rs 580.
Other aviation companies are not listed on the stock exchanges.
