Domestic air passenger traffic grew by 8.98 per cent in Feb: DGCA

New Delhi: Domestic air passenger traffic in February increased by 8.98 per cent to 1.236 crore as compared to the same period last year, according to data released on Wednesday by aviation regulator DGCA.

However, the rise in the number of domestic air passengers for January was just 2.2 per cent when compared with the figures of the corresponding period in 2019. According to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) data, passenger load factors (PLFs) of all major airlines -- Air India, SpiceJet, GoAir, IndiGo, AirAsia India and Vistara -- increased in February as compared to January.

PLF measures the seat capacity utilisation of the airline. At 93 per cent, SpiceJet saw the highest passenger load factor in February. At number two, GoAir had 90.5 per cent load factor.

"SpiceJet has yet again recorded the industry's highest load factor of 93 per cent for the month of February 2020 the 58th successive month that we have flown with over 90 per cent PLF. I am happy that we have achieved such a high PLF in a lean travel month," said Ajay Singh, Chairman and Managing Director, SpiceJet.

"The Indian aviation industry has been hit by an unprecedented crisis. I hope the situation improves in the coming weeks and travel demand picks up again soon," he added.

In its report the DGCA stated, "The passenger load factor in the month of February 2020 has shown increasing trend primarily due to airlines offering promotional fares resulting in increased demand."

With 83.4 per cent, AirAsia India was number one in on-time performance (OTP) measured at four metro cities -- Bengaluru, Delhi, Hyderabad and Mumbai. Sunil Bhaskaran, CEO and MD of AirAsia India, said, "We are delighted to continue to be the leader in punctuality (on-time performance metric) in the Indian aviation landscape."

"We strive to ensure that we always incorporate and adapt best international practices and hope to continue to stay the course in all aspects of our operations," he said.

IndiGo at 81.6 per cent and GoAir at 78.6 per cent were number two and three respectively on OTP performance at these four cities. Indigo also maintained its lead position with 48 per cent share of the domestic passenger market in February 2020.

SpiceJet's market share decreased from 16.6 per cent in January to 15.3 per cent in February, even as it retained the number two spot, as per the data. The market share of Air India, GoAir, AirAsia India and Vistara was 12 per cent, 10 per cent, 7.3 per cent and 6.7 per cent respectively last month. In February, a total of 790 passenger-related complaints were received by the domestic airlines. The number of complaints per 10,000 passengers carried for the same month was around 0.64, according to the data.

Among the major domestic airlines, Air India topped the list of passenger grievances with 1.9 complaints per 10,000 passengers in February, while GoAir was at number two position with one complaint per 10,000 passengers.

(PTI)