India air travel drops by half from previous year

A total of 63.54 lakh domestic passengers travelled by air in November, 51 per cent lower than the corresponding period last year, the country''s aviation regulator DGCA said.

New Delhi: A total of 63.54 lakh domestic passengers travelled by air in November, 51 per cent lower than the corresponding period last year, the country's aviation regulator DGCA said on Friday.

As per the DGCA, 39.43 lakh and 52.71 lakh people travelled by air domestically in September and October, respectively.

While IndiGo carried 34.23 lakh passengers in November, a 53.9 per cent share of the total domestic market, SpiceJet flew 8.4 lakh passengers, which is 13.2 per cent share of the market, according to data shared by the DGCA.

Air India, GoAir, AirAsia India and Vistara carried 6.56 lakh, 5.77 lakh, 4.21 lakh and 3.97 lakh passengers respectively in November, the data showed.

The occupancy rate or load factor of six major Indian airlines was between 66.3 and 77.7 per cent in November, it stated.

"The passenger load factor in the month of Nov 2020 has shown some recovery due to increased demand after the opening of Lockdown and onset of festive season" the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said.

The occupancy rate at SpiceJet was 77.7 per cent in November, the regulator noted.

Meanwhile, the occupancy rate for other major airlines IndiGo, Vistara, GoAir, Air India and AirAsia India was 74 per cent, 70.8 per cent, 70.8 per cent, 69.6 per cent and 66.3 per cent respectively, according to the DGCA.

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India resumed domestic passenger flights on May 25 after a gap of two months due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Indian airlines are allowed to operate a maximum of 80 per cent of their pre-COVID-19 domestic flights.

The DGCA data mentioned that in November, IndiGo had the best on-time performance of 97.5 per cent at four metro airports -- Bengaluru, Delhi, Hyderabad and Mumbai.

In a statement, IndiGo said, "As we chart a recovery path, we are pleased to be the leader in On Time Performance, one of our core service values. We hope to continue this lead and provide the best OTP to our customers."

AirAsia India and Vistara were at number two and three at these four airports in November with 95.6 per cent and 94.8 per cent on-time performance, respectively, the DGCA said.

The aviation sector has been significantly impacted due to the travel restrictions imposed in India and other countries in view of the coronavirus pandemic.

All airlines in India have taken cost-cutting measures such as pay cuts, leave without pay and firing of employees in order to tide over the crisis.

PTI