New Delhi: India's civil aviation sector witnessed significant growth in passenger traffic in the year 2024, with the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) reporting a 6.12% increase in domestic passengers as compared to 2023.
Domestic airlines carried 16.13 million passengers in 2024, up from 15.20 million the previous year. The month of December alone saw an 8.19% increase in passengers, with 14.9 million travellers compared to 13.8 million in December 2023.
On-Time Performance and Market Shares
Among major airlines, IndiGo led the charge in on-time performance (OTP), achieving a rate of 73.4% at key airports including Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad. Following IndiGo were Akasa Air with 62.7% and Air India with 67.6%. This is a crucial metric for passengers, as OTP reflects the airlines' ability to stick to their scheduled flight times. IndiGo continued to dominate India's domestic air traffic, maintaining a 64.4% market share in December 2024, a slight increase from 60.5% in 2023. Air India followed with 26.4%, while Akasa Air and SpiceJet held 4.6% and 3.3%, respectively.
Flight Cancellations and Regional Airline Struggles
Despite the growth, flight cancellations remained a concern. The overall cancellation rate for domestic airlines in December was 1.07%, affecting 67,622 passengers. SpiceJet had the highest cancellation rate among major airlines at 1.81%, followed by IndiGo at 1.17%. Regional airline Fly Big, however, recorded the highest cancellation rate overall, with 19.23% of its flights cancelled. Alliance Air and IndiaOne Air followed with cancellation rates of 4.35% and 2.83%, respectively.
Several factors contributed to these cancellations:
Weather: 27.2%
Technical Issues: 20.8%
Operational Issues: 6.4%
Commercial Issues: 1.3%
Compensation for Affected Passengers
As a result of these disruptions, airlines spent a substantial amount on compensation and facilities. In December, Rs 1.26 crore was allocated to assist 67,622 passengers affected by cancellations. Furthermore, 279,985 passengers experienced delays, for which airlines spent Rs 3.78 crore on facilitation. A total of 2,147 passengers were denied boarding, with airlines compensating them to the tune of Rs 1.76 crore.
Customer Complaints: Baggage, Refunds, and Customer Service
In December, a total of 817 complaints were filed with the DGCA with Fly Big, SpiceJet, and Alliance Air were among the airlines that received the most complaints.
Top Complaint Categories
- Baggage: 25.8%
- Refunds: 21.3%
- Customer Service: 7.7%
Expansion to Meet Rising Demand
In response to the growing demand for air travel, Indian airlines are expanding their fleets and networks. The Air India Group, for example, currently operates around 300 commercial planes and plans to increase this number to about 400 in the next three years. The increasing demand is indicative of India’s position as one of the fastest-growing civil aviation markets in the world, and airlines are ramping up operations to meet the surge in travel, despite the challenges of cancellations and delays.
