Domestic air passenger traffic rises to 1.04 crore in September

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Indian airlines carried nearly 1.04 crore domestic passengers in September, marginally higher than the traffic registered in August amid rising travel demand.

Data released by aviation regulator DGCA on Wednesday showed that domestic air passenger volume grew 46.54 per cent to 1.034 crore (103.55 lakh) in September compared to the year-ago period. Domestic air passenger traffic has been improving and in August, it stood at 1.01 crore.

Indian carriers had ferried 70.66 lakh passengers on the domestic routes in September last year. As per the data, Akasa Air -- which started operations on August 7 -- flew 0.93 lakh passengers in September and had a market share of 0.9 per cent.

Last month, the average passenger load factor of the carriers stood at 77.5 per cent against 72.5 per cent in August 2022. In terms of domestic market share, leading carrier IndiGo cornered 57.7 per cent, carrying 59.72 lakh passengers in September. It was followed by Vistara, which had a market share of 9.6 per cent and had carried 9.96 lakh passengers. In terms of domestic market share, leading carrier IndiGo cornered 57.7 per cent, carrying 59.72 lakh passengers in September.

The combined market share of Vistara, Air India and AirAsia India stood at 24.7 per cent in September. Besides, Vistara also had the best on-time performance with 91 per cent of its flights arriving and departing from four key airports -- Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru -- on time.

Air India, Vistara and AirAsia India are part of the Tata group. On October 9, the domestic air passenger traffic touched 4 lakh and was inching closer to the pre-COVID level. The country's civil aviation sector is on the recovery path after being impacted by the pandemic. On October 9, the domestic air passenger traffic touched 4 lakh and was inching closer to the pre-COVID level.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on October 11, described the number of daily domestic air passengers nearing the pre-COVID level as a "great sign" and said the focus is on improving connectivity across the country.