New Delhi: Domestic air travel touched all-time highs again this summer, but growth remains on hold High Rent for some serious reason capacity constraints, DGCA data Around 1.4 crore people travelled by air within the country this May, which is equal to the maximum number seen last December. However, the growth is limited to around 4% (1.3 crore domestic passengers last May). About 80 flights were grounded Indigo Pratt & Whitney aircraft due to issues; SpiceJet The airlines' aircraft fleet was shrinking sharply due to severe cash crunch and after the shutdown of GoAir last May, the airlines' domestic flight occupancy was over 87 per cent.
Indigo strengthens its position in the domestic market market share This rose to 61.6% this May. The Tata Group's share was 28% (Air India plus Vistara plus erstwhile AirAsia India). Cash-strapped SpiceJet's market share fell to 4% – from 5.6% this January, DGCA data showed. India's youngest airline, Akasa, had a market share of 4.8%, but its growth slowed due to Boeing's inability to deliver the B737 MAX at the pace promised.
Akasa topped the punctuality chart (recorded by DGCA at four airports Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad) with 85.9% of flights operating on time this May, followed by Vistara (81.9%), erstwhile AirAsia India (74.9%), IndiGo (72.8%), Air India (68.4%), SpiceJet (60.7%) and Alliance Air (58.7%).
There were 6.6 crore domestic passengers in January-May 2024, which is 4% more than 6.4 crore in the same period last year. Officials of several airlines said, “If a few more planes were flying, the fares would have been lower. This would mean more people would fly. This is in stark contrast to the time of Covid, when there were many planes but very few people were eligible to fly. Now there are not enough planes to meet the demand.”